Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A Tucumcari man avoided further prison time Thursday after being sentenced to probation and time served in jail for sexual contact with two boys while acting as their foster parent.
Sandoval County District Judge Louis P. McDonald sentenced Manuel Preciado, 68, to five to 20 years of supervised probation and time served after his arrest in late 2014, according to online court records.
Preciado pleaded no contest to six counts of attempted second-degree criminal sexual contract of a minor and one count of third-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor. The former charge could have led to six years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
He also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, seek sex-offender treatment and pay restitution, according to online court documents. He spent three years and 17 days in jail before his sentencing Thursday in Bernalillo.
Other charges of third-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor, bribery of a witness (threats), contributing to the delinquency of a minor, first-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, enticement of a child and child abuse were dismissed in a plea deal.
Phone messages or emails to Preciado’s lawyer, Roger Bargas, and the prosecutor, deputy district attorney Thomas Blakeney, were not returned.
According to previous reporting by the Quay County Sun, New Mexico State Police State Police in November 2014 received a referral from Turquoise Health and Wellness in Tucumcari from a boy accusing Preciado of fondling him from August 2014 to October 2014 while the boy was in his care. The victim told the state trooper he had been afraid to tell anyone about the assaults because Preciado had threatened him with witchcraft and getting the boy into more trouble.
In January 2015, state police interviewed a 16-year-old boy who said Preciado raped him after he was placed with Preciado’s care in March 2013 and from March to August 2014. One attack resulted in the victim being hospitalized, state police stated.
According to state and federal suits filed in Santa Fe in 2017, an Espanola teen sexually abused by Preciado accused New Mexico’s child-welfare agency, several employees and Turquoise of placing him in the care of Preciado despite him being accused earlier of sexually assaulting foster children.