Raton couple accused of fleeing to Missouri arrested on sexual abuse charges

RATON — A Raton couple who allegedly fled to Missouri with two child relatives last spring after one of the minors told local law enforcement and the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department the adults had sexually abused her for years are now in police custody.

The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office tracked down and arrested William Street, 49, and Amber Seay, 34, in Joplin, Missouri, this month through an interstate, multi-agency investigation with the FBI and police in Georgia and Missouri.

Authorities took the children into protective custody in Missouri, where police say the couple fled after the eldest child called 911 in May to report that Street had sexually abused her for roughly six years with Seay’s knowledge.

In a statement last week, CYFD said “the system failed” the girl who reported the alleged abuse.

Street faces 32 felony charges, including rape of a child, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and bribery of a witness.

Seay faces many of the same charges as Street and is additionally charged with harboring or aiding a felon, failure to report child abuse, obstructing an investigation, enticement of a child and conspiracy.

Court records show Seay signed a plea deal last week in which she agreed to cooperate with investigators in prosecuting Street’s case. She plans to plead guilty to three second-degree felonies, though those charges were not specified in the agreement filed in online court records.

In exchange, sentences for each of the three felonies Seay agreed to plead to will run consecutively for a total period of 27 years, “with a 15-year cap at open sentencing,” according to the agreement.

Prosecutors with the DA’s office filed motions for pretrial detention in both cases, citing the weight of the evidence against the defendants and the couple’s flight from the state with the children before investigators were able to interview them in May.

In the pretrial detention motion, prosecutors alleged that Seay’s dangerousness goes beyond harm to the children, as she told authorities “she will ‘shoot off’ (Street’s) private parts if she were to see him again.”

Abuse report

Raton police officers responded to a camper in Raton where the family was living after the child called 911 on May 15 to report the alleged abuse.

According to arrest warrant affidavits, the juvenile told responding officers that Street had raped her for six years, sometimes in Seay’s presence, though the couple denied the abuse claims when speaking with law enforcement.

Street told police he had “been getting reported by his neighbor for the past seven years and (police) already went and verified everything was fine,” according to the court documents.

Responding officers contacted CYFD, who dispatched a caseworker to the home. The caseworker told Seay he could either take the children into CYFD custody that day and place them in foster care or leave them with her for five days if Street agreed to leave the residence.

After the caseworker informed him of the agreement, Street left the family’s home, according to the affidavit. The caseworker then told Seay she would have to remain at the residence with the children for a “respite” period while CYFD scheduled a forensic interview for the child who reported the abuse.

“I told my boss this is what I was going to offer you, my boss is satisfied with my plan,” a Raton Police officer wrote in the affidavit, summarizing what the caseworker told Seay.

On May 20, Seay reported to police that Street was fleeing the state, according to the affidavit. Around that time, the caseworker told police the interview with the child had to be delayed because “there was no one available.”

He went to the residence on May 23 and found no one home, the affidavit states. A neighbor told authorities they had seen Seay and the children leaving the trailer “with bags.”

In early October, the FBI tracked the family to Joplin, Missouri, where they arrested Seay, and transferred custody of the minors to Missouri Child Protective Services.

The DA obtained a bench warrant for Street’s arrest on Nov. 7, and Joplin Police Department arrested him as a fugitive in the small Ozarks city, where he is awaiting transport to Raton for prosecution.

“Our priority was safeguarding these children,” District Attorney Marcus Montoya said in a statement. “... Now, we will pursue justice with every resource available to hold the defendants accountable for these horrific crimes.”

‘The system failed’

In response to an inquiry from the Journal, CYFD Communications Director Jake Thompson said “this child showed extraordinary courage in calling 911 and disclosing the abuse. She did everything right, and she needed immediate protection.”

He said the agency is “reviewing this case to determine, what, if anything, could have been done differently within existing legal constraints.

“The agency is grateful to the FBI and law enforcement agencies ... who worked tirelessly to locate these children and bring them to safety,” the statement continued. “But no amount of excellent police work undoes the months of additional abuse the children suffered because (the couple) ran.”

Maralyn Beck, founder and executive director of New Mexico Child First Network, said in a phone interview Friday that Raton law enforcement and CYFD had clear evidence that the child who reported the abuse was in danger.

By state statute, she said authorities could have — and should have, she said — removed the child from the couple’s custody for a forensic interview for a period of 72 hours.

“What could have happened is CYFD could have said, ‘We feel that this child is in danger,’” Beck said. “She herself said she was in danger.”

Beck said voluntary safety plans, like the one applied in this case, “are not safe.”

In his statement, Thompson said leaving children in the custody of guardians suspected of abuse can fail to protect New Mexico youth.

“No safety plan, no matter how carefully constructed, can work when parents lie and violate the terms meant to protect their own children,” the agency said.