Woman arrested after school staff notice bruises on her 7-year-old son

Santa Fe police arrested Pamela Gallegos, 48, on suspicion of child abuse after employees at Nava Elementary School told the state Children, Youth and Families Department they were concerned about bruising on her 7-year-old child.

School officials contacted authorities after they noticed bruising on the child’s arm in late September, says an affidavit for Gallegos’ arrest.

School employees noticed more bruising after the child had been missing from school for two days, according to the affidavit. In an interview with police, the affidavit says, the child told investigators Gallegos had hit the child in the face and kept the child home from school until the bruises had healed.

The child said Gallegos would get physical when she was mad, once because the 7-year-old couldn’t properly sound out a word.

According to the affidavit for Gallegos’ arrest, the child was taken into state custody. Gallegos is facing one felony count of child abuse, according to court documents, and was granted release from jail on an unsecured appearance bond of $2,500.

She had not been released from jail as of 5 p.m. Thursday, according to jail logs.

Court records show Gallegos was charged with three counts of felony child abuse or abandonment in 2007, but those charges were dismissed after she completed a preprosecution diversion program.