Former teacher found guilty on 1 of 3 counts
Santa Fe DA says he’ll refile 2 sexual contact charges
SANTA FE — A jury has found a former Santa Fe parochial school teacher guilty of one count of sexual contact of a minor, but was hung on two other identical charges.
Aaron Dean Chavez, 50, was charged with three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13 for two incidents that occurred in January 2016 and another that happened in 2007, all while he was a teacher at Santo Niño Regional Catholic School.
The jury started deliberations around 11:30 a.m. Friday after a trial that was split between two weeks. The panel deliberated until 8 p.m. Friday before reconvening again Monday morning and announcing its verdict.
Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna said his office will refile the hung charges against Chavez later this week.
One girl, who was 6 in January 2016, claimed Chavez touched her private area while he tucked in her shirt at the end of art class.
Chavez was convicted on this charge, Assistant District Attorney Larissa Breen confirmed. Chavez’s second-degree felony conviction is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Another girl, who was an 8-year-old thirdgrader in January 2016, said Chavez started stroking her hair when she went to ask him a question about an assignment and then began to touch her buttocks. She testified that she couldn’t walk away because he had his other hand on her waist.
The last victim first came forward in 2012 after hearing a “good touch, bad touch” lecture at Santo Niño and claimed Chavez touched her inappropriately while he was bouncing her on his lap in 2007. State Police started an investigation, but no charges were filed at that time.
The girl came forward again after seeing news reports of Chavez’s arrest in 2016.
Chavez testified that he did tuck in the 6-yearold’s shirt, even though he acknowledged that’s against school policy, but denied any wrongdoing. He also said he touched the top of the 8-year-old’s hair, but didn’t touch any other part of her body.