​David Rael, right, and his attorney Marc Edwards listen today in court in Los Alamos as Assistant Attorney General Celedonia Muniz asks First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to sentence Rael to 15 years in prison. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

David Rael, 40, of Los Alamos was sentenced today in First Judicial District Court to nine years for each of three counts of sexual exploitation of children – manufacture, three years for one count of sexual exploitation of children – possession and 1.5 years for one count of sexual exploitation – distribution.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered the sentences to run concurrently for a total of nine years of incarceration. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Judge Marlowe Sommer found Rael guilty of the five charges in June following a non-jury trial. At that time she remanded him into custody to be transported to the New Mexico Corrections Department Diagnostics Center in Los Lunas for a 60-day evaluation prior to sentencing.

Former Assistant Attorney General Jason Yamato prosecuted the 2014 case along with Assistant Attorney General Celedonia Munoz. Los Alamos Police Cmdr. Oliver Morris was the law enforcement case lead and testified during the trial as well as former Special Agent Lance Fails, Albuquerque Police Det. C.J. Brown, who is on assignment to the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory and Special Agent Owen Pena, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

In Court today, Munoz said Rael’s diagnostic report stated that he said, “I never saw child porn until I went to court”. She said Rael had admitted it was his room and his computer and that nobody uses his computer without his permission.

“This is a serious case and no amount of counseling or treatment is going to help the defendant if he still will not admit the fact that he committed the crime,” Munoz told the Court.

She added that Rael has shown that he is not a good candidate for probation, noting that in an aggravated battery against a family member case and two driving under the influence cases, he had violated probation. She said shortly after entering into a plea agreement on the current case, Rael was arrested for a third DUI after being involved in an accident.

“As a result, the deal was withdrawn and here we are today”, Munoz said.

“The Court has 31.5 years of jurisdiction over the defendant, therefore in order to protect the community and promote justice the State is requesting that the Court sentence the defendant to 15 years of incarceration in the Department of Corrections where he will be able to take part in a specialized program for sex offenders, making sure he gets treatment and therapy while making sure the community is protected,” she told the Court.

Munoz also asked for registered sex offender status for life for Rael and five to 20 years parole.

Rael’s attorney Marc Edwards went back through some of the evidence he had presented on Rael’s behalf during the trial. He noted that there were no still photos found and that there was no evidence Rael had belonged to chat rooms. He said that out of 3,400 Aries video downloads over a two-to-three year period, only three had made it to the courtroom. He said that out of 11,000 term searches conducted, none displayed terms commonly used by pedophiles.

Edwards said the diagnostics report indicated Rael is in a low-risk category for recidivism.

“He will deny to this day ever watching child porn. He never watched it before court,” Edwards said.

He noted that the diagnostics report did not recommend a sex offender program or counseling for Rael.

Following appeals to the Court for leniency and character testimonials by several family members and friends of Rael, Edwards asked the Court for conditions of release or a suspended sentence saying that prison would be “absolutely not the right call”. Rael briefly addressed the Court maintaining his innocence and pleading with the Court for mercy.

Judge Marlowe Sommer told Rael he is in “somewhat of a pickle” with his family, that his denial of his problem has put them in a very bad place.

“You have a secret and it’s been found out,” she said, adding that Rael has had every chance to admit to the crime. She said people had come up “heartbroken” to speak to his character and that she hoped he would be able to admit his crime to his family eventually.

In June 2013, Agent Pena was investigating the sharing of online pornography when he identified Rael’s computer as a potential source for at least six files of interest. In July 2013, LAPD confirmed that the IP address belonged to Rael and Cdr. Morris, then a sergeant, obtained a search warrant for Rael’s residence. Police and Special Agent Owen Pena went to the residence and escorted Rael to the station for questioning.

Through cursory checks of computers located at Rael’s residence, police found child pornography files and subsequently seized all electronics and software capable of containing child pornography. Court records indicate some of the equipment seized contained “images and/or visual mediums that depicted prohibited sexual acts or simulations containing participants that any reasonable person would know that some of them were under the age of 18”. During Rael’s trial, there was extensive testimony by computer experts from both sides.

​Attorney General Hector Balderas said this afternoon that his office’s number one priority is protecting New Mexico children from sexual predators and violence.

“I hope parents in Los Alamos County sleep better tonight knowing Mr. Rael will be off the streets,” Balderas said. “I want to thank the Los Alamos Police Department for their critical work in this important case.”