Former Pecos coach sentenced to 3 years in prison
Baca pleaded guilty to raping two teenage girls in 2017, ’18
A judge sentenced a former Pecos High School assistant basketball coach to three years in prison Wednesday for raping two teenage girls, the maximum sentence allowable under a plea agreement reached in November.
Dominick Baca, 31, pleaded guilty to three charges of criminal sexual penetration and one charge of criminal sexual contact of a minor, all fourth-degree felonies.
As part of his plea deal, Baca also pleaded guilty to one charge of escape from a community release program and one count of tampering with evidence, both fourth-degree felonies, in a separate case in which he was accused of violating his house arrest and GPS electronic monitoring orders.
Although District Judge Jason Lidyard issued the maximum sentence allowable under the plea agreement, Baca likely will only spend another six to seven months in jail, his attorney, Tom Clark, said Wednesday.
Baca has over 600 days of time served, and the court will determine Friday how much presentence confinement credit he will receive, Clark said.
Baca pleaded guilty to raping the 14-yearold and 17-year-old girls at his home between 2017 and 2018.
He kissed and groped the 17-year-old girl in his office, according to an arrest warrant affidavit in the case. The girl later went to his house in March 2018, where he raped her.
Baca met the 14-year-old girl through his position as a coordinator of GEAR-UP, a program that tries to increase the number of students going to college.
He exchanged text messages with the girl, and she later met him in his car outside his home, according to the affidavit. The girl
declined to have intercourse with him at the time, but Baca coerced her to perform oral sex, according to the warrant. Baca raped her in his bedroom two weeks later.
The New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority paid $1.2 million to settle a claim filed by the guardians of one of the girls. The Pecos Independent School District reached a settlement with the 17-year-old girl for $290,000.
According to the plea agreement, Baca will have to register as a sex offender, is prohibited from attending or participating in any high school-age events and is prohibited from any employment where he would have interaction with high school-age students.