RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE) – After apparently admitting to trying to send explicit messages to an underage girl, (former) Ruidoso Police Officer Daniel Balding has been convicted of multiple felonies.
Balding found himself in an undercover sting in 2019 when he sent text he thought was going to a 15-year-old. It turned out that he was actually texting the Department of Homeland Security and the State Police.
Now, a jury has found Balding guilty of child solicitation and sexual exploitation of children by recording. Both of those are fourth-degree felonies.
Balding has not yet been handed a sentence for his crimes. But he faces up to three years in prison, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
