Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - A 24-year-old on probation for armed robbery has been charged with raping a 3-year-old child.
A Doña Ana County grand jury on Thursday indicted Eric Gene Acosta on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual penetration of a child younger than 13 and one count of concealing his identity.
The little girl reported the alleged abuse the afternoon of Jan. 29, when she was picked up from her mother's house and told family she was in pain, according to court documents. Her aunt bathed her and, noticing irritation, asked who had hurt the girl, at which time the girl named Acosta.
Acosta allegedly threatened the little girl to "shut (up) and be quiet or he would spank her," court documents state.
The girl's mother told a Las Cruces Police Department detective she hadn't been regularly bathing her daughter because it was too cold and that might be the reason her daughter was in pain, according to court documents.
In a forensic interview, the girl told a detective "Eric hurt me ... he hurt me on my flower" and demonstrated how the man had touched her, court documents state.
When questioned by police, Acosta, of the 700 block of South Tornillo, identified himself using his brother's name and said he was not close to his girlfriend's children and "didn't touch them or discipline them in any way ... was never alone with (the girl) and didn't know she would say he touched her ... even accidentally."
In addition, Acosta was revealed to be in violation of his
Acosta was 18 when he and another man put a gun to the head of at least one guest at a Las Cruces party in 2004, robbing attendees of stereo equipment, a keg of beer and cell phones. Acosta served more than four years for that crime, but was to be on probation until 2014.
Acosta remains jailed at the Do-a Ana County Detention Center under two $50,000 secured bonds - one for the rape charges and one for the probation violation.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
