A Pueblo man has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and criminal attempt to commit sexual assault on a child.
Phoenix Moncivaiz-Likes, 21, was originally charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, three counts of sexual assault on a child, and animal cruelty after police allegedly found him in possession of hundreds of photos and at least two dozen videos showing children and dogs being sexually abused, according to an arrest affidavit authored by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
In exchange for his plea of guilty on the two counts of attempted sexual assault, all remaining charges were dropped, according to a plea agreement with the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
No agreement was made in terms of sentencing on either count, except that Moncivaiz-Likes would not serve more than eight years in prison for the former count and no more than four years on the latter, to run concurrently.
Moncivaiz-Likes will also serve 45 days in jail for violating probation in a separate misdemeanor case, as the plea in this case necessarily violates his probation, his attorney, Lindsey Wright, explained during an Aug. 29 plea hearing in front of Judge Tim O’ Shea.
Moncivaiz-Likes will be required to register as a sex offender. He will also be required to serve three years of parole upon his release from prison.
According to a PCSO arrest affidavit, activity on the social media messaging app Snapchat allegedly showed conversations between an account associated with Moncivaiz-Likes and another user in which Moncivaiz-Likes asked for sexual images in exchange for a video of him performing sexual acts on an unidentified victim.
The PCSO alleged several explicit videos were exchanged between the two accounts, some showing nude children and others showing sexual acts performed on children, according to the affidavit.
When questioned about the conversation, Moncivaiz-Likes stated he knew why investigators were at his home — that they had likely “seen something on his phone” — and allegedly admitted to having the conversation with the other party, according to the affidavit.
However, Moncivaiz-Likes denied sexually assaulting any children inside the home.
Approximately 230 photos that appeared to be child sexual abuse materials were allegedly found on Moncivaiz-Likes’ cell phone, according to the affidavit, as were at least 24 videos. The photos and videos included minors and dogs being sexually abused.
In another app, investigators uncovered conversations between an account belonging to Moncivaiz-Likes and other users discussing pedophilia and other deviancy, with Moncivaiz-Likes appearing to admit to sexually abusing at least one minor, according to the affidavit.
Moncivaiz-Likes also sent one image of himself sexually abusing a dog. He admitted to sexually abusing two dogs to investigators, according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, investigators claimed another victim stated Moncivaiz-Likes had sexually abused them multiple times.
Moncivaiz-Likes will be sentenced by Judge O’Shea on Nov. 26 after community corrections and psychosexual screenings are completed.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo man pleads guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child