ALBUQUERQUE – Kirk Simplicio, 24, a member and resident of Zuni Pueblo was sentenced June 6 in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., to 16 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on a sexual abuse of a minor charge.

Simplicio will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Simplicio was arrested on March 17, 2015, on an indictment charging him with sexually abusing a minor who was between 12 and 16 years of age. According to the indictment, Simplicio committed the crime on Jan. 1, 2014, on Zuni Pueblo in McKinley County, N.M.

On May 26, 2016, Simplicio pled guilty to the indictment and admitted engaging in a sexual act with the victim, who was 14 years old and at least four years younger than Simplicio.

This case was investigated by the Zuni Pueblo Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.