Santa Fe man charged with sexually assaulting 2 girls
A 27-year-old Santa Fe man is in custody after being charged last week with sexually assaulting two young female relatives, court records show.
Police were initially called to a home May 12 after a family member reported discovering Erick Salazar touching the relative, an 8-year-old girl, on her genitals the day before in the child’s bedroom, according to an arrest warrant.
Salazar was told by the family member to leave the home, and he was later found and arrested on an outstanding warrant, police said.
The girl later told a crisis treatment counselor the assaults had been going on since she was 6, according to the warrant.
After the report, another young female relative of Salazar came forward with a similar accusation on Tuesday.
The girl said Salazar had sexually assaulted her when she was 5 or 6, according to an amended criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court on Thursday.
Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday to hold Salazar in custody until his trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community and may be a flight risk.
Calling the facts in the case “incredibly disturbing,” prosecutors noted the alleged assaults occurred in the children’s homes.
That Salazar had been “hiding in plain sight is chilling,” prosecutors wrote.
Relatives of the victims are concerned that if released, Salazar may flee to Mexico, prosecutors said.
Salazar is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and remained in custody at Santa Fe County jail Saturday in lieu of bond, jail records showed.