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ENMU student arrested for alleged rape

PORTALES — An Eastern New Mexico University student was arrested Tuesday for allegedly raping another student.

Joel Torres, Jr., 18, was charged with criminal sexual penetration, a third-degree felony. He is at Roosevelt County Detention Center on a $10,000 cash or surety bond.

Eastern New Mexico University police in November responded to a dormitory on the campus for a welfare check in which police made contact with a female student. The freshman student told police she had been sexually assaulted about two weeks prior, according to court documents.

It was not immediately known if Torres had an attorney.

Torres, records show, admitted to having sexual intercourse with the girl, saying she seemed coherent and, “if they are too drunk, (Torres) won’t even talk to them.”

Torres also told police the victim had “second thoughts” upon arriving to his dorm room, but then “she came on to me” and “it wasn’t like she didn’t want to.” He said he asked her twice if she was “sure about this,” and she did not verbally answer either time but kept kissing him.

Two witnesses to the interactions between Torres and the female teenager at a party the night of the incident both said the victim appeared to be intoxicated “with reddish eyes.”

In text messages between Torres and the female the night of the incident, she stated twice she was “so drunk.”

The female told police she vaguely remembered being in a vehicle on the way back to the dorms, then her next memory was of Torres on top of her.

ENMU Vice President of Students Affairs Jeff Long said Wednesday an institutional investigation was completed the end of February and the university will not be expelling Torres, saying it was “based on the evidence we had at the time of the investigation that led us to that decision.”

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said if convicted, Torres will have to register as a sex offender.

Another Portales man was arrested Monday on three counts of criminal sexual penetration, a third-degree felony, and two counts of criminal sexual contact, a misdemeanor.

Gerald E. Gaines, 66, is at Roosevelt County Detention Center on a $15,000 cash only bond. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.

According to an arrest affidavit, Gaines allegedly inappropriately touched and penetrated a 19-year-old.

According to the affidavit, Gaines admitted to sheriff’s deputies he had touched the teen while she was unclothed but denied any penetration, saying “it was their little game.”

The incidents had allegedly been occurring since October.

 
 
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