Man, 48, is charged in sex assault of teen girl
A Santa Fe man has been arrested on three counts in the sexually assault a teen girl at his home in late January.
Vernon Lee De Aguero, 48, had his first court appearance Wednesday before Santa Fe County Magistrate Donita Sena. He was released from jail on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond.
Under the conditions of his release, De Aguero is prohibited from leaving the state and from contacting his accuser. He also has been placed on GPS monitoring.
According to an affidavit for his arrest warrant, De Aguero is accused of going into the bedroom of his home where the girl was sleeping around 1:30 a.m. Jan. 25.
He got into the bed and asked the girl to go to his bedroom, but she refused, the affidavit said. De Aguero then heard another person walk by the bedroom and left in a hurry, the affidavit said.
About 30 minutes to an hour later, De Aguero returned to the teen’s bedroom, the affidavit said, and is accused of lying down next to her, touching her chest and her genital area over her clothing, and forcibly kissing her.
He also again tried to convince the girl to go to his bedroom because his door had a lock, the affidavit said.
The girl told police De Aguero apologized for the incident the next morning and pleaded with her to not tell a family member, according to the affidavit.
Investigators corroborated the girl’s timeline of events using text messages between her and another family member in the home, the affidavit said.
A second teenage girl told investigators she had been abused by De Aguero when she was younger, and she described a similar situation. She and her guardian decided against filing criminal charges, the girl said.
His next court appearance is set for March 25 with Magistrate George Anaya.