BCSO: 5 more males accuse APS employee

New claims made after ex-student reported relationship with school aide

In the three days since a former student at Rio Grande High School reported that he had an ongoing sexual relationship with a male educational assistant, five more possible victims have come forward, according to a spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our detectives are still interviewing them all,” said Deputy Felicia Romero.

She said that all six are male and were in high school at the time of the alleged assaults, but she doesn’t know how old they are.

On Monday, a student reported that when he was 17, he had sex multiple times with 36-year-old Luis Chavez, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. It’s unclear from the complaint exactly when the relationship occurred.

The student said he wanted to end the relationship but did not know how to do that, so he quit his extracurricular activities and left the school,

according to the complaint.

The student said on Monday he told school officials because he was worried other students may have been targeted by Chavez.

When deputies interviewed Chavez, he reportedly said his relationship with the student began on a school trip when they stayed at Chavez’s friend’s house and the student was allowed to drink several beers, according to the complaint. He said that on another trip they again drank alcohol together.

“They eventually did have sexual intercourse while intoxicated on that trip,” the detective wrote in the complaint.

Chavez said he and the student had sex about 10 to 12 times, including a couple of times at the high school, and exchanged naked photos, according to the complaint.

He told deputies that he knew “it was stupid” and that the student was a minor, but he considered him a consenting adult, according to the complaint.

Monica Armenta, a spokeswoman for Albuquerque Public Schools, said the district is not aware of the specifics of the travel arrangements or approval process for trips in this case. She said they have started due process to fire Chavez, who had been employed as an educational assistant since January 2013.

Chavez is charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor by a school employee, criminal sexual contact of a minor, and causing or permitting a child to engage in sexual exploitation. He was released from jail on his own recognizance Tuesday.