GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) – A State Police officer has been suspended and recently fired from his high school coaching job. Those moves come in the wake of some alarming allegations.
A Grants mother says just two weeks ago, she read the details of her daughter’s rape. “I found a notebook where she had actually been writing in it like a journal, a diary,” she says.
The teen says it happened back in March when she was a high school senior. She claims the assistant coach of the Grants girls’ soccer team lured her into his car, held her against her will and raped her.
“He made her feel like she was at fault and used his authority to turn it on her,” her mom says.
The 18-year-old’s mom says she didn’t know him personally but thought as a State Police officer, he must be trustworthy.
“He’s a State Police officer and all the girls seemed to look up to him. I didn’t think about worrying that he would be that type of person,” she says.
The mom says her daughter told three different teachers about the rape during the school year but they never reported it.
“These are people that she looked up to that she thought she was safe with,” she says.
Since reporting the allegation this month, the Grants School District has fired the officer from his coaching gig and banned him from school property. New Mexico State Police have also launched an internal affairs investigation and placed him on leave.
“I want to see him in jail. I want to see him fired, away from girls,” she says.
Grants Police Department also is investigating. They say they plan to turn the case over to the district attorney by the end of the week.
The Grants School District says the three employees with prior knowledge of the allegations have all resigned, and their cases will be reviewed by the Public Education Department.
Grants police say since launching their investigation, no other accusers have come forward.
