ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man from Shiprock, New Mexico, who was formerly a middle school health aide, has been sentenced for possession of child pornography. 42-year-old Aaron Leon Happy will face ten years in prison after pleading guilty in February.
According to court records, a 2019 Facebook tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children disclosed that a user under the name of “Aaron Happ” was having sexually explicit conversations with minors on the social media platform. The tip was passed along to the FBI, who identified the user as Aaron Leon Happy.
At that time, Happy was working as a health aide at Newcomb Middle School. In late 2020, the FBI used a warrant to search Happy’s office, residence, and person. Through the search of Happy’s cell phone, investigators found images and videos, gotten from the internet, of children being sexually assaulted.
On February 27, 2023, Happy pleaded guilty to “possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” He was sentenced on Tuesday, August 8, to ten years in prison and, upon release, will be required to register as a sex offender and will spend the rest of his life on supervised release.
