Clovis man pleads guilty to child porn charges

ALBUQUERQUE — A Clovis man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Albuquerque federal court to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Spencer Lovato, 26, was arrested by the FBI on child pornography charges in April 2017 after Lovato was identified as the subscriber of accounts used to distribute and receive child pornography on an online messaging platform.

Lovato was charged with sending and receiving videos on his phone of minors involved in sexually explicit conduct on Jan. 5, 2017, in New Mexico and sending another video of a minor involved in sexually explicit conduct on Dec. 27, 2016, in Curry County.

Lovato faces a minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and will be required to register as a sex offender, the release said.

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.