Nicolas Franklin Palacios
NICOLAS Franklin Palacios pled guilty to possession of child pornography before Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy of the District Court for the NMI on Monday.
At the change of plea hearing, Palacios, through his defense attorney, pled guilty to “Possession of and Access with the Intent to View Child Pornography,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B).
Judge Kennedy found that the defendant was fully competent to enter a knowing and voluntary plea, and made a recommendation to Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona to accept the guilty plea.
She also vacated the previously scheduled jury trial set for July 8.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe appeared on behalf of the federal government.
In an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant, FBI Special Agent Richard Bauer said Palacios violated Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B) (Possession of Child Pornography).
According to the complaint, on Feb. 11, 2025, the FBI special agent was contacted by a Department of Public Safety detective regarding a complaint he received from a community member.
Bauer conducted an interview with the complainant on March 6, 2025.
The complainant stated that between Feb. 8 and 14, 2025, while inside Palacios’ home, the defendant began talking about his “kinks” and what sexually aroused him.
The complaint stated that Palacios admitted to accessing and downloading videos and images of children in sexual situations through the “dark web” and torrent programs.
Palacios also showed the complainant some of the videos and images on his MacBook, according to the complaint.
Database and social media checks conducted by the FBI revealed multiple email accounts associated with Palacios.
A cyber tip submitted by Google to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Feb. 6, 2025, listed Palacios as a suspect.
On April 22, 2025, the FBI executed a search and seizure warrant at Palacios’ residence, where eight electronic devices were confiscated. The defendant was detained at the scene.
After being advised of his Miranda rights, Palacios waived them and agreed to speak with agents.
He told investigators that sometime in 2015, while in college, he began experimenting with drugs, and a college friend introduced him to child pornography. He said he would typically download such material from the “dark web” while high, and would delete it after viewing.
