Albuquerque Journal
CHIMAYO, N.M. — A Chimayó man is in jail on charges that, on several occasions, he injected heroin into the neck of his 9-year-old son. Jose Paul Velasquez Jr., 30, faces charges of first-degree child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after his son was found with track marks on his neck and havi ng opiates and marijuana in his system, according to State Police Lt. Eric Garcia.
The boy told authorities that Velasquez injected him with heroin “at least 10 times” and that his dad let him drink and smoke marijuana, too, Garcia said.
The State Police investigation began June 21 when officers met with the child, his mother and representatives from the Children, Youth and Families Department. The boy’s mother said she brought her son to the hospital because the boy’s sister told her that he “had been given heroin and has track marks on his neck,” Garcia said, reading from an arrest warrant affidavit.
The mother told police that her son tested positive for drugs and that it was the father who injected him. The woman said that she was in a relationship with Velasquez for 13 years and, during that time, she knew him to use heroin and cocaine, the lieutenant said.
Garcia said the boy first told police that he was injected with the drugs by a 15-yearold friend. However, he later “changed his story” and said that it was his father who supplied the drugs.
When asked by police to point to the area where Velasquez injected him with heroin, the boy “pointed to the right side of his neck,” the affidavit states.
The boy’s sister, whose age is not noted in the arrest warrant statement, told police that Velasquez also “had offered her drugs and alcohol in the past” and that she once drank alcohol because was afraid of her father.
Last month, Velasquez offered the girl drugs, but she refused, telling her father, “that she did not need drugs because she has God,” according to Garcia.
Velasquez was jailed on June 23. Four days later, he pleaded not guilty to the charges in Magistrate Court in Española. He remains in custody on a $25,000 cash-only bond.
Copyright 2011 Albuquerque Journal