Sheriff 'shocked' following former deputy's arrest

FARWELL — Parmer County’s sheriff said he felt “shocked and betrayed” following the recent arrest on child sex crime charges in Curry County of a former deputy in training with his office.

“We’re doing the very best that we possibly can in light of a horrendously awful situation, and we will get to the bottom of (this),” Sheriff Randy Geries told The News. “We’re going to try and look and ask and do as much as we can to make sure that we address as much as we can.”

Geries spoke of the May 26 arrest of Davin Waters, 25, of Farwell, on six counts of criminal sexual contact with a child. Prosecutors alleged the incidents took place in a Texico church but said they did not occur in Waters’ capacity as a lawman.

“We don’t believe that he was in uniform,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover told The News. Stover said the incidents “involve a single victim and six separate counts over three instances that occurred in Curry County,” the most recent of which allegedly “happened within the last few weeks.”

Waters was terminated from his recent position in the Parmer County Sheriff Office the moment charges came to light, Geries told The News. Geries specified that Waters had just been to the academy, was only with the office for less than two months and was “constantly supervised” during that time.

“He was in training, he was a rookie, he never made it to deputy status,” Geries said Wednesday of Waters, “One of the things that grieves me is we want kids to run to us, and we want to protect our children.”

Waters remained in custody pending a pre-trial detention hearing Monday afternoon in Curry County. Geries said that meanwhile investigators “want to be as thorough as we absolutely possibly can” in exploring the possibility of any additional charges against Waters.

Efforts to reach Waters’ attorney were unsuccessful.