According to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office for the State of New Mexico, a former New Mexico State Police officer was given a sentence of 18 years in prison on Thursday, July 11, for sexually abusing a child. The punishment was handed down on Thursday.
Two counts of illegal sexual penetration of a minor under the age of thirteen were brought against Ronald Jackson, who was 55 years old at the time of his conviction. The jury in Las Cruces reached a verdict of guilty.
The allegations of sexual assault that occurred when the victim was 14 years old were reported to Child Protective Services in April of 2020, according to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office who made the statement.
Once the abuse started, the victim was in the fourth grade, and it continued for more than two years after that. The Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office discovered that Jackson had been following the victim on social media for more than a year. This information was obtained via the investigation.
During the course of the inquiry, the detectives realized that Jackson had been terminated from his position at the correctional facility for inappropriate touching and had been fired by the New Mexico State Police for inappropriate behavior with female coworkers.
Jackson was also terminated from his position because of an alleged rape complaint that was brought against an inmate at the facility.
According to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the charges of rape were dismissed because the female inmate passed away while she was detained instead of being charged with the crime.