Warrant: 3 girls raped by grandfather

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) - Police charged a 59-year-old Rio Rancho grandfather with 42 counts of child rape, and the victims have been identified as his three granddaughters.

Kenneth Elliot is accused of having repeated sexual contact with his two 8-year-old and one 9-year-old granddaughters.

Rio Rancho Police said when they responded to Elliott's home to follow up on the child rape allegations, he instantly admitted to what he had done.

"He walked out and immediately told the officer I'm guilty," Rio Rancho Police Spokesperson Officer John Francis said.

The tip to authorities was called in by the girl's mother who lives in Alabama, according to the arrest warrant. She said the oldest girl confided in her during a phone conversation.

The warrant also outlines what the girls told investigators.

The girls said the abuse always happened at home, often in Elliott's bed. Sometimes sexual acts took place when Mrs. Elliott, their grandmother, was asleep next to them, according to the warrant.

All three girls said they were abused, but said they were never abused at the same time and no girl ever witnessed the abuse of another girl.

"There is no indication that she knew anything, as far as we can tell," Francis said about Mrs. Elliott.

News 13 spoke with a neighbor who said she suspected the girls were being abused, adding that she's sorry she didn't speak up.

The woman, who didn't want to be identified, said the girls would come to her home and say things that made her suspicious.

She said she once confronted the girls, but they claimed it wasn't as it seemed.

The neighbor said she didn't feel she had enough to prove the abuse.

"I didn't want to destroy a family and the accusations not be true," she said.

The Children Youth and Families Department said if you suspect abuse, you don't need proof. It's the job of investigators to determine if the allegations are true.

The statewide hotline to report child abuse is 1-800-797-3260.