Albuquerque Pediatric Nurse Arrested for Child Sexual Abuse Material on Kik

A pediatric nurse trusted to care for Albuquerque's youngest patients was arrested after Kik reported his account to federal authorities for allegedly trading child sexual abuse material while employed at Presbyterian Hospital. Blade Rogers, 29, faces charges of possession of a visual medium of sexual exploitation of a child under 13, with court documents alleging he not only possessed the material but actively traded it and attempted to sell it to others.

The trail to Rogers began on the platform itself. Kik submitted a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the federally designated clearinghouse for online child exploitation tips. Under federal law, electronic service providers are legally required to report known instances of CSAM to NCMEC's CyberTipline. NCMEC then routed the tip to the New Mexico Department of Justice, which assigned the case to its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Using a recorded IP address provided by Kik, investigators obtained a grand jury subpoena to Comcast Cable, which returned the subscriber's address, phone number, and Google email address, all linking back to Rogers.

The criminal complaint describes videos ranging from nine seconds to over a minute long, depicting children as young as five and up to approximately 11 to 13 years old being abused. Beyond mere possession, the complaint alleges Rogers offered to sell a "mega link" purportedly containing thousands of videos and solicited particularly graphic material from other users through text exchanges. When federal agents executed a search warrant at his home in early April 2026, they found the Kik app installed on his phone along with at least one video containing CSAM. During that encounter, Rogers told agents he used social media apps but did not mention Kik, an omission multiple reporters flagged as a significant indicator of consciousness of guilt.

Presbyterian Hospital spokesperson Kourtney Muñoz confirmed Rogers had worked at the facility since 2020, beginning as a placement coordinator before transitioning to a nursing role in 2024. The hospital said it had conducted an extensive background check prior to his employment and found no prior concerns, and confirmed Rogers is no longer employed there. Court documents reviewed by multiple local outlets contain no allegation that Rogers harmed any patient directly, though investigators have not publicly ruled out additional charges.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez issued a statement saying the allegations "shake the sense of trust that families place in those who care for their kids" and that his office "will continue to act swiftly and decisively whenever that trust is betrayed."

Under NMSA Section 30-6A-3, possession of CSAM depicting a child under 13 carries up to 12 years in prison, plus a mandatory additional year when the victim is under 13. Comparable New Mexico prosecutions have resulted in sentences ranging from four years for James Lucher, who also received lifetime sex offender registration, to seven years for Malcom Broach, convicted of possession and distribution through a peer-to-peer network. Rogers was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, and the state filed to keep him in custody pending his pretrial detention hearing.

The case illustrates the enforcement pipeline that now underpins most CSAM prosecutions: in 2023, NCMEC's CyberTipline received more than 36.2 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, a 12% increase over the prior year, with files rising 19% to more than 100 million. In 2024, NCMEC averaged 50 urgent reports per day from electronic service providers, and just five platforms accounted for more than 91% of all submissions. Anyone with additional information about the case can contact the New Mexico DOJ's ICAC Task Force. Rogers' arrest is one result of that reporting system functioning exactly as designed.