Dad seeks court dismissal of rape charges
Alleged victim, Madrid man’s artist daughter, died in October
SANTA FE — A Madrid man who is facing multiple sex crime charges is seeking to have them dismissed because the alleged victim — his daughter — has died and can no longer be challenged at trial.
Geoffrey Stewart, 61, is asking for the dismissal of five counts of criminal sexual penetration, one count of sexual criminal contact of a minor and one count of bribery of a witness for allegedly raping Alicia Stewart several times starting when she was 3 years old.
His lawyer, Ray Twohig argues that since Alicia — already a talented artist — died on Oct. 2 at age 18, Stewart now won’t be afforded his constitutional right to confront her.
Twohig maintains that his client is innocent, in any case. A motion hearing is scheduled for Monday in Santa Fe District Court.
Stewart didn’t want to comment to the Journal, but Twohig said his client will continue to fight the charges. Stewart is the owner of the Crystal Dragon jewelry shop in Madrid and an artist himself.
Alicia Stewart began to display extraordinary artistic talent at a young age — galleries began selling her haunting painted images of young women when she was 12 or 13 — but her life was cut short two months ago when she died from an epileptic seizure in her college dorm room in Baltimore.
Investigation begins
In February 2016, Geoffrey Stewart was indicted on the sex crime charges after Alicia confided in a high school counselor and the State Police concluded an investigation.
State Police began investigating Geoffrey Stewart in February 2015 after Alicia went to a school counselor at the New Mexico School for the Arts, a state charter school in Santa Fe, and reported the alleged rapes.
The counselor told Officer Frank Concha that Alicia, 16 at the time, told her that the sexual assaults occurred between the ages of 3 and 7.
A state Children, Youth and Families Department employee, Gary Ritter, met with Alicia that same day for an interview, where she repeated the allegations against her father.
Ritter told Concha that Alicia hadn’t grasped the definition of sexual assault until she was in 8th grade.
Concha interviewed Geoffrey Stewart on Feb. 26, 2015. Stewart said he was unaware of Alicia’s accusations.
The officer then interviewed Tamara Stewart, the girl’s mother, on April 8, 2015. “I asked Ms. (Tamara) Stewart if she was aware of the allegations against Mr. Stewart; she replied yes,” Concha’s report states.
But Tamara Stewart said several times during the interview that her husband never told her about Alicia’s allegations against him.
Two days later, Tamara Stewart called Concha and said her husband had in fact admitted Alicia’s allegations. “She further stated that she did (not) disclose this information (in the previous interview) in fear that Mr. Stewart would fatally harm himself in fear of going to jail,” Concha wrote.
Stewart was indicted the following February. He was never arrested and is out on a $10,000 appearance bond, court records indicate.
Second look
Though Stewart was charged last year, State Police undertook additional investigation this fall following Alicia’s death, when friends scoured her room in Santa Fe for keepsakes and found her journals. One contained an unsigned handwritten confession from someone about assaulting Alicia.
That development prompted officers to execute a search warrant on Stewart’s home and seize some of his own journals, in which he had written that he was innocent.
Police interviewed the mother of one of the girls on Nov. 3. The mother said Alicia told her in 2012 or 2013 that Stewart had sex with her multiple times when she was young.
Tamara Stewart was interviewed again Nov. 15 and told police that in February 2015, Alicia told her that when she was 3 Stewart inappropriately touched her several times.
Tamara Stewart, who filed for divorce the same day her husband was indicted, did not return messages from the Journal seeking comment.
Art taken down
Cassidy Watt, whose Metallo Gallery in Madrid displayed and sold Alicia’s paintings, said he took down all of her pieces after he heard of her death so her mother could decide if they were still for sale.
Art collectors from all over the county have purchased Alicia’s work, he said, and people who frequented his gallery were looking forward to what Alicia could do in the future with her talent.
“Everyone was so excited about what was coming next,” Watt said. “We were all excited to be along for the ride.”