Mom found guilty of abusing teenage son
An Albuquerque mother faces up to six years in prison after jurors on Tuesday found her guilty of charges including child abuse and battery, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Genoveva Fazio, 38, made headlines in December 2016 when, police said, she disappeared with six of her children after her teen son reported abuse. At that time, the boy told authorities that his mother attacked him because she believed he’d abused one of his young siblings.
Following a six-day trial before state District Judge Brett Loveless, the jury convicted Fazio of four charges but found her not guilty on two others: criminal sexual contact and child abuse. Her defense attorney, Raymond Maestas, said she was facing 12 to 60 years at the start of the trial. “On December 18th, 2016, Ms. Fazio protected her 5 year old child. The Albuquerque Police Department ignored it. The DA’s office said in trial, ‘it was irrelevant,’” Maestas said in an email. “But, the judge did not think so, and neither did the jury — both upheld the law during the case.”
Michael Patrick, a spokesman for the DA’s Office, said Fazio was convicted of “felony child abuse, false imprisonment, aggravated battery and battery, for the hourslong abuse she inflicted on her teenage son.”
Patrick said Fazio kicked, punched and bit the boy, forced him into a freezing cold shower, and then tied him up. When he managed to escape, he ran “bleeding and shivering” to a police substation.
Several days later, police announced that they were searching for Fazio and her six other kids. The family was located in Arizona.
Fazio will be sentenced in about 60 days, and in the interim, she will remain on court-ordered supervision and must wear a GPS monitor. Patrick said her children are not in her custody.