Rio Rancho man charged in multi-year child sex case in Sandoval County

Sandoval County families are now watching a case that remains at the charging stage: Paul Romero, 40, was summoned in Sandoval County Magistrate Court after being charged May 12 with five counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. The allegations say the abuse unfolded over several years, from 2023 through 2025, and reached across Rio Rancho, Colorado and Las Vegas, New Mexico. The minor was 14 when they reported the abuse.

For parents, the most immediate fact is that the case is not resolved. A summons means Romero must answer the charges in court, but it does not mean the allegations have been proven. The magistrate court in Sandoval County is part of New Mexico’s statewide system of 43 magistrate courts, and this case will move through that process before any final outcome is reached.

The charges carry serious weight under New Mexico law. Criminal sexual contact of a minor is defined as the unlawful, intentional touching of a minor’s intimate parts, or causing a minor to touch an offender’s intimate parts. Criminal sexual penetration of a child between 13 and 18 can be charged as a second-degree felony sex offense against a child when force or coercion is alleged.

The case also lands in a county where child-safety issues are shaped by population growth and jurisdictional complexity. Sandoval County prosecutors note the county had an estimated 2019 population of 146,748 and includes 12 Native American pueblos and two joint areas, a geography that can complicate reporting, investigation and coordination when allegations cross community lines. In a region like Rio Rancho, where residents often rely on local police, county prosecutors and the courts to respond quickly to abuse allegations, the length of time described in this case raises hard questions about when warning signs were first noticed and how they were handled.

Statewide data underscore why these cases draw urgent attention. New Mexico child-abuse referrals were 83.8 per 1,000 children in 2022, and an estimated 18% of investigated child-abuse cases were substantiated victims in the most recent 12-month period ending June 30, 2024, according to state child-welfare reporting cited by the Children’s Cabinet of New Mexico. For Sandoval County, the Romero case is now part of a larger public-safety question: how to protect children sooner, and how to make sure serious allegations do not wait years before surfacing in court.