Attorney general announces three arrests in child sex abuse probe tied to Meta

May 8—New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Wednesday three people have been arrested in an ongoing statewide investigation into child sexual abuse facilitated through a handful of social media messaging platforms.

The investigation — which Torrez called "Operation MetaPhile" — is connected with a pending lawsuit his agency filed against the tech company Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Since December, the department's agents have posed undercover as children to find "pedophiles and predators" who use the tech giant's social media platforms "to hunt, groom, target and potentially victimize minor children," he said at a Wednesday news conference at the state Department of Justice's office in Albuquerque.

Torrez announced his office filed felony criminal charges against men from Farmington, Grants and Roswell. The charges include child solicitation by an electronic device and attempted criminal sexual penetration of a minor.

Torrez said he had an overarching message about the investigation: "This is Mark Zuckerberg's fault."

The state Department of Justice in December announced it had filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc., alleging the company's widely used social media platforms knowingly facilitate child sex abuse and the distribution of child sex abuse material.

Torrez said Wednesday the company puts its "profits over the safety of children" and that "parents should be aware of the real-world danger and harm in using these platforms."

The men arrested include the following:

Fernando Clyde, 52, and Marlon Kellywood, 29, who both are charged with solicitation of a child under 13 by electronic device and attempted criminal sexual penetration of a minor. They were both arrested Tuesday at a Gallup motel, where they are accused of arriving with the intention of raping a child.

Christopher Reynolds, 47, was arrested April 23 on a count of solicitation of a child under 13 by electronic device.

This is a developing story and will be updated. Check back for more details.