By Patrick Lohmann
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — A retired jail guard captain has been indicted on charges of raping an inmate multiple times in his office at a Los Lunas state prison.
A grand jury indicted Kenneth Carrejo, 40, on four criminal sexual penetration charges, according to an indictment filed Friday in Valencia County district court. Each count could carry six to nine years in prison.
Inmate Ken net h Mor ga n accused Carrejo of raping him repeatedly at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility before Carrejo retired.
Morgan claimed in a civil suit that Correjo threatened to kill him should he tell anyone about the abuse. The suit also names Anthony Romero, thenjail warden. Morgan accuses Romero of tipping Carrejo off to an undercover FBI operation aimed at investigating Morgan’s accusations.
The civil suit against Romero is still in its preliminary stages, Romero’s attorney said Friday. An internal Corrections investigation exonerated Romero, a Corrections spokeswoman said.
New Mexico Correct ions Department Secretary Gregg Marcantel said in a statement the department supports all efforts to eliminate sexual abuse in its prisons, regardless of who commits it.
“We will seek justice in all criminal matters that come to our attention, regardless of whether the perpetrator is an inmate, offender, or staff member,” the statements reads. “We appreciate and admire the work of our law enforcement and prosecutor partners and will remain in support of the pursuit of justice in this matter.”
Calls to Carrejo’s attorney were not immediately returned Friday.
In addition to accusations of rape and intimidation, Carrejo is accused in the civil complaint of punishing Morgan by keeping him in solitary confinement after Morgan went to the FBI with his accusations.
At least one of Carrejo’s brothers, both of whom are State Police officers, interrogated Morgan at the prison and asked Morgan to give up the evidence against Carrejo, according to the complaint.
State Police Lt. Robert McDonald said in May that had the department known Morgan’s accusations were against Carrejo, they would have sent a different officer to avoid a conflict of interest.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal