Santa Fe schools settle molestation case for $500K
A lawsuit against Santa Fe Public Schools accusing a former teaching assistant at Atalaya Elementary School of molesting a female student has been settled for $500,000, according to the New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority.
The civil case also names the school and Sergio Muterperl, 32, as defendants. Muterperl, who worked for the school district for four, is charged in a criminal case of child rape and other counts. He initially was put on leave in 2016 when two Atalaya students came forward with allegations that he had molested them in the 2014-15 school year; he was fired three months later.
Richard Valerio, deputy director of the insurance authority, confirmed the settlement amount Friday but said he was restricted from commenting further on the case because of a confidentiality agreement.
A spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools declined to comment on the case.
Muterperl was arrested in June 2016 on suspicion of child rape and sexual assault in a case involving the two Atalaya girls, ages 7 and 9. In April, a grand jury indicted him on seven charges: three counts of first-degree criminal sexual contact of a child under 13, three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of enticement of a child.
Muterperl is scheduled to stand trial beginning Jan. 2 in the state District Court in Santa Fe, according to online court records.
The lawsuit, filed in August 2017 in the state District Court by the mother of one of the girls, alleged Muterperl “breached his duty” to protect students “when he used his position at Atalaya to gain access to children and inflict injury on them.”
It further alleged the school board and school staff “knew or should have known” that Muterperl “had a history of inappropriate conduct and posed a threat to students.”
In an unrelated case in November 2016, Muterperl was arrested on charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest after a melee near the Santa Fe Plaza and an impromptu march by several hundred people protesting President Donald Trump’s election.
Muterperl and an officer had scuffled, and both had fallen down a staircase at the Santa Fe Arcade. Those charges were later dismissed.
In 2011, Muterperl pleaded guilty to DWI in Albuquerque, court records show.
In 2005 in Santa Fe and in 2011 in Albuquerque, he faced domestic violence charges, according to court records, but both cases were dropped by prosecutors.