EX-COACH PLEADS GUILTY TO RAPE

Dominick Baca to be jailed zero to 3 years under deal

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — A former high school boys basketball coach pleaded guilty to four felony sex charges as part of a plea deal related to incidents involving two girls who were students at Pecos High School. The plea agreement also resolves a separate case in which the coach was facing multiple charges of escaping from a community custody release program and tampering with evidence.

Sentencing for 30-year-old Dominick Baca will take place sometime early next year after he undergoes a psychological examination. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Clayton said that Baca would face between zero and

three years in jail and then be placed on probation for five to 20 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Baca was initially charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. One of the criminal sexual contact charges was removed as part of the plea deal.

Baca was an assistant boys basketball coach for the Pecos Panthers when he had sex with the girls, who were age 14 and 17 at the time of the incidents that occurred in 2017 and 2018. The incidents took place in his car, at his home and in his office at Pecos High School.

While Clayton was reading details of the crimes to the judge, Baca’s attorney,

Tom Clark, interrupted and complained that Clayton was grandstanding. District Judge Jason Lidyard said the details could be spared until sentencing.

The crimes took place while a star player on the Panthers’ state championship team was living with Baca. The New Mexico Activities Association granted the player a waiver to live with the coach.

Baca was facing dozens of additional charges after tampering with his ankle monitor while on house arrest. During that time, Baca attended the state high school basketball tournament in Albuquerque, a Hooters restaurant, a Super Bowl party and a tattoo parlor.

Two civil lawsuits over the sexual assaults have already been settled, according to court documents.

EDDIE MOORE/JOURNAL Dominick Baca, center, a former assistant basketball coach at Pecos High School, sits with his attorney, Tom Clark, during a plea hearing in Las Vegas, N.M., on Tuesday.