Farmington Municipal Schools administrator will face trial over child sexual abuse allegations

FARMINGTON — A Piedra Vista High School administrator who was placed on administrative leave in February will face trial over allegations he sexually abused a child under the age of 13 and then threatened her, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced on May 4.

Balderas said in a news release that Caleb Foucault has been bound over for trial and is facing three felony count. If he is found guilty Foucault could serve up to 22-and-a-half years in prison. 

The news release stated that prosecutors said in a preliminary hearing that Foucault entered a household member's bedroom in October 2018 "after she had gone to bed and forced her to have sex with him. The next morning, Foucault threatened the young girl that he would harm her family members if she disclosed the incident."

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Defense attorney Shellie Ann Patscheck declined comment on the case when reached on May 5. 

There was a preliminary hearing before Judge Pat Cordell in Farmington Magistrate Court on April 27, according to online court records. The judge issued an Order On Preliminary Examination – Bind Over on May 3.

The case moves to the Eleventh Judicial District Court, where the defendant will be arraigned. The prosecutors assigned to the case are Assistant Attorneys General Caitlin Dillon, Jesse Pecoraro, and Zach Jones, the news release said.

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Foucault's accuser testified in person at the preliminary hearing, drawing praise from Balderas.

"I applaud this survivor for having the courage to tell her story of abuse and because of her strength, I will hold this defendant accountable for his crimes," Balderas said in the news release.

Specifically, Foucault faces a charge of criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13, a first-degree felony, false imprisonment, which is a fourth-degree felony, and witness intimidation, which is a third-degree felony. If convicted of all charges, Foucault faces 18 to 22.5 years in prison.

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Foucault was placed on administrative leave after a criminal complaint was filed on Feb. 11. A county prosecutor in February told the Daily Times that Foucault had turned himself in.

A Farmington Municipal Schools spokesperson confirmed that Foucault was still on administrative leave as of May 5.

A multi-page arrest warrant affidavit filed at that time described the juvenile witness coming forward to her mother about the alleged attack three years after she said it happened, according to the Daily Times archives.

The juvenile described being pinned to a bed and raped when she was 11. She said threats were made the next day if she told anyone about it.

Contact John R. Moses at 505-564-4624, or via email at jmoses@daily-times.com.

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