Former Moriarty assistant coach faces new counts
Former Moriarty assistant football coach Damien Hyatt was arraigned last week on charges of false imprisonment and second degree criminal sexual penetration of a child aged 13-18 by force or coercion in a separate case from his previous 24 similar charges.
The cases have been set on 7th Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Reynolds’ trial docket in October.
Hyatt was also in court Tuesday for pretrial conferences for the two cases. Defense attorney Naomi Salazar stated that she is not ready to go to trial yet and requested that the trial be moved from an August trial date to later in the fall, which was accepted by Reynolds.
The 24 previous charges, including 12 counts of raping a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, criminal sexual contact, witness bribery and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, were related to his assistant coach tenure at Moriarty High School.
Those first charges stemmed from Torrance County deputies investigating allegations that Hyatt was giving teenagers alcohol in “return for sexual favors,” according to an arrest warrant. A 16-year-old female student told deputies she and Hyatt had been “dating” for a year, and he had been flirting with other girls.
Hyatt’s employment with the MoriartyEdgewood School District was limited to his work as an assistant football coach.
District officials have said nothing in its standard criminal background check raised red flags against his employment. School officials have said they are cooperating with police and have student safety as their primary concern.
Hyatt is also a 2011 graduate of Moriarty High School.