Santa Fe County Deputy Pleads Guilty to Molesting Two Young Girls

SANTA FE — A former Santa Fe County deputy pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two young girls and will learn how long he’ll be incarcerated after his mental health is evaluated by state prison officials.

Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna said Dustin Bingham, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13, one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor by force or coercion, one count of child solicitation by electronic device and one count of sexual exploitation of children on Wednesday in Los Alamos District Court. Bingham faces up to 25 years in prison at sentencing, Serna said.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered Bingham, who was a deputy from April 2015 to February 2017, to undergo a 60-day diagnostic evaluation at the Central New Mexico prison before he’s sentenced, Serna said. Bingham will undergo a mental health evaluation during his diagnostic, then a recommendation on sentencing and treatment will be sent to Marlowe Sommer.

“I’m very happy that he pled guilty to these charges,” Serna said Monday. “Now it’s just a matter of sentencing.”

Bingham’s crimes happened between November 2015 and April this year, according to a criminal complaint. State Police began investigating Bingham in January after a mother reported that she was concerned about her daughter’s social media contact with Bingham. Bingham then resigned from the sheriff’s office on Feb. 3 after Sheriff Robert A. Garcia placed him under an internal investigation.

Garcia said in May that Bingham resigned the same day he was supposed to go over the findings of the internal probe with him.

In May, Bingham’s parents called the Los Alamos Police Department and said Bingham molested two girls who he regularly visited and babysat. At one point Bingham lived with the girls’ family and shared a room with one of the victims. One girl told police that Bingham removed her bra while she was sleeping, which she discovered when she woke up the next morning without one.

Source: https://www.abqjournal.com/1088929/former-deputy-pleads-guilty-to-molesting-girls.html