Lawsuit accuses former ACS employee of abusing women he met on the job
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According to the lawsuit, in November 2023 ACS responded to help a female veteran having suicidal ideations. The lawsuit said the ACS employee helped get her to the VA before things took a turn.
The suit claims after that initial call, the city employee soon started texting the plaintiff saying he was glad to have met her and telling her she was 'pretty.' The lawsuit claims things escalated from there. 'An employee of the city who worked for ACS, which is a crisis unit, essentially coerced our client into a sexual relationship while she was in a mental health crisis,' said Ryan Villa, the attorney for the plaintiff.
KRQE News 13 is not naming the ACS employee as he is not currently facing charges for the allegations within the suit.
The lawsuit says in December of 2023 the employee told the plaintiff he lost his job because of their relationship. The suit accuses him of then financially exploiting her by borrowing thousands of dollars from her and never paying her back.
ACS confirmed to KRQE News 13 that the employee resigned from the department in January 2024 in lieu of termination. But the lawsuit claims despite what the employee told the plaintiff, he was actually going to lose his job for a different assault.
According to an Albuquerque Police report, in December of 2023, the then-ACS employee had another sexual relationship with a patient he met on the job who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After responding to a call to help the woman, the incident report said the employee started texting with the patient. The report said the texts were explicit and eventually led to intercourse. The woman told police it was consensual but her court-appointed guardians said otherwise. The employee resigned on January 2, 2024.
While the city placed the employee on leave and planned on terminating the employee, the plaintiff's lawyer claims the city did not do an adequate investigation after these allegations came to light. 'As far as we can tell the city took no steps whatsoever to see if it had happened in any other instances,' said Villa. 'The city didn't take any steps at all to investigate whether this was a pattern, whether he'd done this to any other people. In fact, he had done it to our client in this lawsuit.'
'Albuquerque Community Safety takes allegations of misconduct seriously,' said an ACS spokesperson to News 13 in an emailed statement. 'Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to provide further comment at this time. Our department remains committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability.'
Villa also argues the city shouldn't have hired him in the first place, noting the employee's background check was not thorough enough. 'We have allegations that they failed to do a proper background investigation,' said Villa.
The lawsuit notes his history of domestic violence and battery charges, though they were either dismissed or dropped. It also states the employee had a short criminal history in Colorado for weapons charges. The suit also claims he was previously fired from the Socorro Fire Department in 2017 and from the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in 2010.
'Why the city didn't conduct that type of background investigation before hiring this person who they knew was going to go work with some of the most vulnerable people in our population is beyond me,' said Villa.
He said he hopes this lawsuit will spark change. 'We want to make sure this never ever happens again to anyone else. That's first and foremost in our client's mind,' said Villa. He said they also want justice for her.
Documents also show after his resignation from ACS, the employee applied for a job with the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department. CFYD denied his application following a background check.
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