Two sentenced in Texico child abuse

Two of three defendants charged with child abuse at a Texico home have now received prison sentences after entering guilty pleas.

Sgt. Gerardo Hernandez, criminal investigator with the New Mexico State Police, detailed in an arrest affidavit last July that children in the home had been beaten, starved and chained to beds.

Jaime Sena, 30, on June 7 received a sentence of six years in prison on four counts of child abuse without great bodily harm, court records show. Jayme Kushman, 38, on Thursday received a 15-year sentence on six counts of child abuse without great bodily harm, Ninth Judicial District Attorney Quentin Ray confirmed.

Both Sena and Kushman accepted plea agreements that served as the basis for sentencing, court documents show.

Sena and Kushman were living at 236 Curry Road 8.5 when the child abuse incidents took place, court documents show. District Judge Drew Tatum handed down both sentences.

A plea conference for a third defendant, Lora Melancon, 43, who was another resident of the Texico home, is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday before Judge Fred Van Soelen.

Melancon is charged with four counts of child abuse that allegedly occurred in 2020.

The five children, which included a foster child, were subjected to wearing alarms and undergoing paddlings that left bruises as punishment for getting into the refrigerator, records show.

An investigation into the home began July of 2022. Among a number of things observed was a locked and chained gate inside the door to the home in the 200 block of Curry Road 8.5, plus an unflushed toilet full of urine and feces.

Videos of the children in various negative conditions were discovered on cell phones in the home, records show.

Melancon was arrested Sept. 2 and charged with four counts of intentional child abuse with no death or great bodily harm and one count of conspiracy to commit abuse of a child (does not result in death or great bodily harm) that took place at the Texico home.

Melancon is a former seasonal employee of the city of Clovis Parks and Recreation Department. Her job was youth programs coordinator, according to Clovis’ Human Resources Director Cindy Wentworth.

According to court documents, incidents involving Melancon happened in 2020 at the home while the incidents involving Kushman and Sena allegedly happened in 2022.

Prosecutor Brian Stover presented the same videos in both cases for the prosecution.