Cop sexually abused young son and forced him to shower with her in NM, feds say
A mom has been charged after being accused of physically and sexually abusing her young son in New Mexico, federal officials said.
The investigation began when the boy told his father that his mom, a police officer with the Jicarilla Apache Nation, sexually assaulted him from about 6 years old to about 11 years old, according to an affidavit filed April 17 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The now 13-year-old told officers his mom physically abused him from ages 9 to 11 between September 2021 and May 2023, authorities said.
McClatchy News is not naming the woman to protect the identities of her children.
Officers learned that, in one occasion, the boy had been playing PlayStation in his room when his mother came in, threw him against the wall and punched him in his gut and face, prosecutors said.
She'd then apologize to her son, beating him every few days, and at times keeping him home from school so no one could see the extent of his injuries, authorities said.
The boy was sexually abused and forced to take showers with her, being punched or slapped if he refused, according to officials.
On April 14, the boy's older sister, now 19, told officials her mom would abuse her weekly between the ages of 5 and 13, the court document said.
She told officials the abuse was so severe it resulted in a broken arm when she was 5-years-old, according to authorities.
The Dulce woman had been charged with child abuse in 2023 and was not allowed to see the children, officials said.
In March 2025, she returned to her work as a police officer, officials said.
McClatchy News reached out to her lawyer and to the Jicarilla Apache Nation Police Department for a statement April 30 and was awaiting a response.
She is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and abandonment of a child, prosecutors said in an April 30 news release.
She is facing up to life in prison, officials said.
Dulce is about a 170-mile drive north of Albuquerque.
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