Woman charged with child abuse after allegedly cutting her toddler

Albuquerque police arrested a woman after officers found her toddler wearing only a diaper while out in the rain with cuts all over her body.

Jessica Crespin, 40, was charged with one count of child abuse. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Sunday.

Crespin was previously charged with battery against a household member in 2024 and told police she had slapped her toddler and punched her boyfriend, according to criminal complaints.

Crespin’s mother, Maria Crespin, on Tuesday said her daughter has struggled with mental issues and drug addiction for a long time, but it was disappointing to hear she had been arrested.

“We tried doing what we could for her, but she would start all over again,” Maria Crespin said. “It’s really uncomfortable and it hurts that she would do something like that.”

Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Jessica Crespin until trial, saying her “behavior indicates danger as well as a detachment from reality.”

“She will not be able to comply with the directives of the court if released,” the pretrial detention motion states.

Sunday morning, an officer was conducting a patrol when she saw Crespin and her 2-year-old daughter, who was only wearing a diaper, at a bus stop while it was raining, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

The complaint does not say where the incident occurred, but jail records show Crespin was arrested near Second and Montaño NW.

The officer spoke to Crespin, who seemed “dazed” and told police she was outside because “all the people in her home are all in one body” and she felt unsafe but had nowhere to go, the complaint states.

Crespin admitted to police she had used methamphetamine earlier in the day and told the officer she wanted to hurt her daughter by cutting her, according to the complaint. Police noticed cuts on the toddler’s leg and her neck, but Crespin said she did not know how the injuries occurred.

Police said they found a box cutter on Crespin.

Police called the state Children, Youth and Families Department and detained Crespin for questioning, the complaint states. When CYFD arrived, the investigator told police the child was hungry and kept asking for food, the complaint stated.

CYFD told police Crespin said “the devil told her” to hurt the child and that she had the box cutter for protection, according to the complaint. Crespin told officers her firearms had been taken away by them prior to the incident.

The toddler was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital for drug screening and a health evaluation. Crespin’s other daughter, 13, was placed in temporary CYFD custody.

“When law enforcement alerted us to this alarming situation involving a small child on Sunday, we immediately responded and took the children into CYFD custody,” said CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson. “CYFD has placed the children with a resource parent, and they are safe.”