Man pleads guilty to possessing child sex abuse material, gets 23-year prison sentence

A federal judge sentenced a Las Vegas man Wednesday to more than 23 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography.

Adam Cardenas will spend 281 months in prison followed by 35 years of supervised release, according to a Department of Justice news release. Prosecutors said he sexually abused two children and recorded the abuse, and that he possessed more than 600 images depicting child sex abuse and distributed images of child sexual abuse material, the news release said.

Cardenas must also register as a sex offender, DOJ said.

“We will not allow evil criminals who prey on children to evade justice,” said Sigal Chattah, the first assistant United States attorney for the District of Nevada, in a statement. “Today’s sentence highlights that those who sexually exploit children, through whatever technological means, will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to court records, FBI investigators said Cardenas coerced a seven-year-old and three-year-old to participate in sexual acts, which he later recorded and distributed through the Kik messenger platform. Cardenas was formally charged in 2024, court records showed.

“Protecting children is the FBI’s non-negotiable priority,” said Christopher S. Delzotto, the FBI Las Vegas field office’s special agent in charge, in a statement. “Together with our law enforcement partners at every level — federal, state, local, and tribal — we are united in identifying and investigating anyone who seeks to exploit or harm the vulnerable.”