Daniel Aranda, 18, is in the Roosevelt County Detention Center after being arrested last week on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual penetration, the Portales News-Tribune reported today on its Web site.

Aranda, high scorer for the Portales High School boys' basketball team, is being held as a juvenile since he was 17 when the alleged incident occurred in January, the News-Tribune reported.

"The only thing we can say is that he's innocent," Aranda's mother Ortencia Aranda told the News-Tribune. "He's a good kid."

Portales police Capt. Lonnie Berry told the paper that the alleged victim was under 12 years of age.
Aranda's last basketball game was on Feb. 25 when the Portales Rams defeated Ruidoso 52-41 to win the District 4-3A championship. His team beat West Las Vegas 71-44 on Saturday while Aranda was in jail, the paper reported.

The Rams play Ruidoso again on Wednesday in Bernalillo in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

District Attorney Matt Chandler told the News-Tribune that Aranda could face up to 18 years in prison if tried and convicted as an adult, or committed to the New Mexico Boys School until age 21 if sentenced as a juvenile.

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