Principal was arrested in April and remains in custody.

No allegations of criminal activity at school have come to light.

LAS CRUCES - A grand jury indictment against the former principal of Zia Middle School in Mesilla was filed in federal court Wednesday.

Joel Aguilar Villanueva, 42, was arrested in April after police executed a search warrant at Villanueva's Telshor Boulevard apartment and found up to 192 files containing suspected child pornography on a hard drive belonging to Villanueva.

Villanueva was indicted on a single count each of transporting and possessing child pornography, consistent with a criminal complaint filed in April after Villanueva's arrest. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

According to the April criminal complaint, a Twitter account connected to Villanueva was reported for sharing videos of suspected child pornography. A 15-second video clip appearing to involve a minor between the ages of 12 and 16 was accompanied by a tweet saying in Spanish, "Aprenden rapido" (translated as "They learn quickly" in English).

Villaneuva had been principal at Zia Middle School since 2017. Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Greg Ewing said during a subsequent community meeting at the school that Villanueva was taken into custody in Ewing's office, where Ewing had just placed the principal on administrative leave.

Although Villanueva's contract with the district was set to expire on June 30, the district swiftly moved to terminate his employment. Villanueva has remained in custody pending trial.

To date, no reports of any harassment or other criminal activity involving children at the school or district equipment have come to light.

More: Former Zia principal allegedly engaged in 'grooming behavior,' more pornography found

More: Court docs say Zia principal had folder with 192 videos, most of them child porn

Although no pornographic material was reported to have been located in his school office or on school equipment, federal prosecutors stated in court in April that Villanueva may have engaged in "grooming behavior" at Zia, such as inviting select students into his office alone for snacks.

The case, initially heard by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Fouratt, has been assigned to federal district Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales.

Kathleen Gardner, previously an assistant principal at Oñate High School with nearly 20 years experience as a teacher, has succeeded Villanueva as principal at Zia.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonActor on Twitter.

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