Ex-Caregiver’s Trial Set on Sex Charges

A former caregiver with a West Side assisting living care center will go on trial in March on charges he sexually assaulted, on numerous occasions, two developmentally disabled men who were in his care.

Edward Joseph Herrera, 53, is slated to stand trial on March 25 in Albuquerque before state District Judge Kenneth Martinez, according to court records.

Arrested in June 2011, Herrera pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree criminal sexual penetration, first-degree kidnapping and a misdemeanor charge of criminal sexual contact.

According to a search warrant affidavit issued at the time of his arrest, one of the men in Herrera’s care told a new caregiver that Herrera had sexually assaulted him on numerous occasions while he was being cared for in Herrera’s home.

The man’s family had placed him in the care of Expressions of Life. Herrera, a caretaker at the time with the company, took custody of the man in 2001, and the man was subsequently placed at Herrera’s house on Brenton NW. During his nine-year stay, the man had many problems physically, including contracting several urinary tract infections, according to the affidavit.

However, the man’s health problems were never reported until the man was removed from Herrera’s home when Herrera was jailed on a second drunken driving charge.

When Herrera stopped being the man’s caretaker, the man’s infections stopped, the affidavit said.

The man later disclosed to his new caregiver he had been sexually assaulted by Herrera.

The victim also later told authorities that he had witnessed Herrera sexually abuse a second man under Herrera’s care. The second man was described as being “vocally limited” and unable to communicate, the affidavit said.

Court records show Herrera was previously arrested in 1997 for larceny over $2,500 and for DWI second offense in 1983.