New Mexico Highlands Sports Official Appears in Court On Assault Charges

Gavino Archuleta

Highlands associate athletic director Gavino Archuleta has been charged with the two fourth-degree felonies, along with three petty misdemeanor counts of battery, stemming from a Nov. 17 incident where he allegedly touched and grabbed the crotch of a male employee.

Las Vegas Police Chief Christian Montaño said Archuleta,who has been Highlands’ sports information director, turned himself in without incident.

“He turned himself in Monday,” he said. “He was then booked into the county jail and was released after posting bond.”

According to court records, the criminal sexual contact charge is the result of allegations that Archuleta forced his hand down the pants of the male employee and grabbed his genitals, after a social gathering at Archuleta’s home among coworkers. The false imprisonment charge is based on the allegation that Archuleta prevented the alleged victim from leaving Archuleta’s house.

The allegations first surfaced in a November police report. Highlands athletic director Ed Manzanares confirmed Wednesday that Archuleta remains on administrative leave, but deferred further comment to the school’s human resource director Donna Castro. Calls to Castro were not returned. A phone message left for Archuleta was also not returned.

According to the police report, the alleged victim called the police at 2:37 a.m. on Nov. 17, after a gathering at Archuleta’s apartment in Las Vegas, N.M.

The alleged victim said he and two other Highlands athletic department employees, including his girlfriend, were at Archuleta’s home watching SportsCenter and drinking a few beers. As they were leaving, Archuleta flagged them down outside. While one co-worker had already left, the alleged victim — who had been in a vehicle with his girlfriend — went to see what Archuleta wanted.

He told police he was asked to step back into his house, where Archuleta asked him if he “wanted another shot.” The man agreed, but as he tried to leave, he said Archuleta blocked the doorway. “Archuleta then placed his hands on the man’s stomach and started lowering them until he reached the point where he was grabbing his crotch,” the report stated.

The man said he then retreated to the bathroom after telling Archuleta: “I don’t do this kind of stuff.” While in the bathroom, he sent a text message to his girlfriend waiting for him outside and asked her to come back into the apartment because Archuleta wouldn’t let him leave and was touching his private parts.

When the girlfriend knocked at the front door, the man tried again to leave but was cornered by Archuleta. He said Archuleta then grabbed his crotch, this time reaching down his pants. He said his girlfriend was outside the front door yelling, “Let me in, let me in.”

The man was eventually able to reach around Archuleta to get the door open and let his girlfriend in, he told police. As soon as he got outside “he broke into tears,” the police report states. The man said Archuleta then began calling his cellphone. While the man didn’t answer initially, he later recorded two conversations with Archuleta, which were turned over to police.

The report states that during the first conversation, Archuleta can be heard trying to persuade the alleged victim to return to his apartment. In the second recording, “Archuleta admits to wanting to touch (the alleged victim).”

The officer also notes that the alleged victim began crying several times during the interview. He “stated that he was confused especially since Mr. Archuleta was his boss and someone who he looked up to,” the report states.