91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

Former Colorado deputy, arrested in Mexico, sentenced to 10 years for possession of child sexual abuse videos

By
Austen Erblat
Digital Producer, CBS Colorado
Austen Erblat is a digital producer and assignment editor at CBS News Colorado and is Covering Colorado First. Originally from South Florida, he's been working as a journalist in Denver since 2022.
Read Full Bio
Austen Erblat

/ CBS Colorado

A former sheriff's deputy from southwest Colorado, who was on the run for months before being arrested in Mexico, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges related to possession of child sexual exploitation videos.

Jesus Damian Nieblas was a deputy at the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office until he resigned in June 2025. The following month, investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant on his home in Norwood and said they found 27 child sexual abuse videos.

Nieblas, now 29, was nowhere to be found, and a warrant for his arrest was issued. At the time, police believed he fled San Miguel County and a manhunt was launched.

About three months later, Nieblas was arrested in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta and was transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at the border checkpoint near Douglas, Arizona, CBI said in October.

jesus-damian-nieblas-credit-cbi-left-cochise-county-az-sheriffs-office-right.png
Jesus Damian Nieblas CBI, left; Cochise County Sheriff's Office, right

He was charged with multiple counts of felony charges related to possession of child sexual exploitation material, a felony charge of attempted drug distribution, and several misdemeanor charges of failure to report child abuse and unlawful drug use.

He pleaded guilty in February to six of the sexual exploitation video charges and the drug misdemeanor, and the remaining charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, court records show.

He was sentenced by San Miguel County Judge Keri Yoder on Monday. He'll have his first parole hearing in May 2030 and won't be eligible for parole until Aug. 16, 2030.

The San Miguel County Sheriff's Office said it does not believe any of the victims were from San Miguel County.

Before being hired by the San Miguel Sheriff's Office on Aug. 1, 2020, as a patrol deputy, Nieblas worked as a code enforcement officer with the Telluride Marshal's Office, officials said.

He also served as a school resource officer for the Norwood School District but was removed from that position for "misuse of his Taser in front of several students while horseplaying with an adult friend (wrestling coach at the school)," a spokesperson for the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office said.

© 2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });