Tucumcari man accused of solicitation

A Tucumcari man remains in federal custody after he was accused of trying to solicit sex acts from two underage children. An undercover FBI agent posed as the children online.

Joseph Wayne Gadman, 40, was charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, which can lead to mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in prison if convicted.

Gadman appeared in federal court Thursday for a detention hearing and is expected to remain in jail until his trial, which has not been scheduled.

Gadman is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman said Sunday.

According to a news release Friday from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gadman is accused of using a foreign fetish website to contact a user who, unbeknownst to him, was an undercover FBI agent.

"Under the username Gadmanj40, Gadman allegedly indicated that he was interested in the undercover agent's interests," the release sated. "Believing that the user with whom he was communicating had children, Gadman allegedly arranged to meet the undercover agent's 'family' for the purposes of engaging in sexual acts with two minors - a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old.

"On Jan. 13, Gadman traveled from Tucumcari to Albuquerque, where he was arrested. At the time of his arrest, Gadman was in possession of $60 to pay the 'mother,' as arranged, and had KitKat bars and condoms in his vehicle for the 'children.'"

The FBI's Albuquerque Field Office investigated the case as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program is a nationwide network including more than 90 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in New Mexico dedicated to investigating, prosecuting and developing responses to internet crimes against children.

Gadman listed himself in his Facebook profile as owner of KMAL 4.5 gospel radio and as a delivery driver for DoorDash. He also has offered pet-sitting and house-sitting services in Tucumcari.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaymie L. Roybal is prosecuting the case. It wasn't immediately known whether Gadman had retained an attorney.