Raton woman released on bond in child sexual abuse case

RATON  — A woman accused of permitting and at times participating in sexually abusing one of her children for several years with her partner was released from police custody last week on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Amber Seay, 34, originally faced over two dozen charges tied to the alleged abuse and for fleeing with her two children last May to Joplin, Missouri, where she and her husband were arrested and the children were taken into protective custody.

Seay will be required to wear a GPS monitor, must stay in either New Mexico or Georgia and avoid contact with Street and the children while her case is processed.

Seay's release comes after she signed a plea agreement on Nov. 20 with the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which had initially filed a motion to detain the 34-year-old without bond until trial.

The agreement requires Seay to plead guilty to three second-degree felonies that carry a 27-year sentence with a 15-year open sentencing cap, according to the District Attorney's Office. In exchange, Seay agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of her partner, 49-year-old William Street.

Local officers in Joplin arrested Street in early November on a bench warrant charging him with 33 felony counts, including child rape, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and bribery of a witness.

Both cases originated on May 15, when one of Seay's children called 911 to report she had been sexually abused for roughly six years at the family's home in Raton.

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

Officers contacted the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, which dispatched a case worker, who allowed Seay to remain at the home with the children so long as Street left immediately.

Seay told police Street was fleeing the state on May 20 and then herself fled New Mexico with her two children before CYFD could arrange a forensic interview with the child who said she had been abused.

Maralyn Beck, founder and executive director of New Mexico Child First Network, told the Journal last month that CYFD should have removed the child from Seay's custody immediately after the abuse was reported to police. By state law, she said CYFD can remove children from parents' custody for 72 hours if they have reason to believe they are in danger.

In a statement last month, CYFD Communications Director Jake Thompson said "the system" failed the child who reported she had been abused, but added that "no safety plan, no matter how carefully constructed, can work when parents lie and violate the terms meant to protect their own children."

John Miller is the northern New Mexico correspondent for the Journal. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.