Rape, kidnapping charged in Robertson High hazing

LAS VEGAS, N. M. (KRQE) - Six former high school football players face rape and kidnapping charges over an alleged hazing that included sodomizing younger players with a broom handle.

The six, all now suspended or expelled from Robertson High School, were charged Wednesday by the district attorney's office in Santa Fe which has taken over the case.

District Attorney Henry Valdez said additional charges could be filed against adults, but he declined to say if he was referring to the coaches who ran the out-of-town training camp in August.  The coaching staff resigned shortly after the incident became public.

The charges were filed in Children's' Court in Las Vegas.  Valdez now has 10 days to decide whether to request the teens be tried as adults.

Court documents identify the teens as Michael Gallegos, Santiago Armijo, Steven Garcia, Marcus Gutierrez, Lucas Martinez and Jerek Padilla.  All have been charged with conspiracy plus multiple counts of second-degree rape, kidnapping, attempted rape and attempted kidnapping.

Ten younger teammates are the alleged victims.

Gallegos alone faces 19 counts.  All six remain free, Valdez said.

"The charges we filed reflect the behavior of each of the individuals," Valdez told KRQE News 13.

Five of the players have been suspended from school for the year while the sixth was expelled.  Robertson is part of the Las Vegas City Schools district.

The case has stirred strong feelings in a community with two school districts and intense sports rivalries.

"To me it was disgusting whatever happened" Linda Lovato said.  "It's, you know, sad."

"They're going have to pay," added Lalo Lovato.  "Somebody's going to pay.  It's going to be hard."

Las Vegas residents we spoke to say, if the kids did it, they should face the consequences:

"If they did the crime, they have to do the time," Melody Garcia said.

Questions about what the coaches new about the alleged hazing and how they did or did not respond have been raised but not publicly answered.  However the district attorney, who was appointed as special prosecutor to avoid local conflicts of interest, would only talk in general terms about where the case might be going.

"I did ask the police to do some more investigation to that particular issue, and those reports were just recently turned over," Valdez added.  "I'm talking about any adults that may have had any responsibility in this."

The school districts internal investigation concluded the coaches did a poor job handling the allegations when then learned of the hazing.

"If there's wrongdoing people have to be held accountable for their actions," said Steve Sandoval, an assistant principal in the West Las Vegas Schools district.  "It's a no win situation for everybody."

New Mexico State Police are conducting the investigation.