April 23—A Santa Fe man faces multiple criminal charges for allegedly molesting a preteen girl repeatedly over several years.
Nelson E. Carmona-Sandoval, 46, faces seven counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13 — two of which are second-degree felony counts for alleged unclothed contact — and two misdemeanor counts of distributing sexually explicit material to a minor, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
An arrest warrant for Carmona-Sandoval was filed Friday, but Santa Fe police confirmed Tuesday he had not been arrested.
The girl told police that Carmona-Sandoval touched her, dressed and undressed her, and photographed her inappropriately over the past two years, when she was 11 or 12 years old, according to an affidavit from the arrest warrant. Police wrote that two witnesses said Carmona-Sandoval also had sexual discussions with several underage teenage girls and solicited nude photos of them through text messages they had seen.
One witness told police he was “afraid” to come forward to police about the abuse allegations because the witness is an undocumented immigrant, the affidavit states, and Carmona-Sandoval had threatened the witness with “comments on expulsion”.
The witness also said they were hesitant to report him to police because they “didn’t have money to pay a lawyer and Nelson did,” police wrote.
