Las Cruces mother sentenced for child abuse

A Las Cruces mother accused of child abuse will have to spend one year behind bars. In June of 2014, Sierra Salas pleaded no contest to 6 counts of intentional child abuse. A judge sentenced her to 12 years in prison, but suspended all but one year on those counts.

On November of 2011, Salas took her one-year-old son to the hospital after she claimed he had fallen in the shower. The boy had a swollen lip that eventually became infected. Police said the child also had injuries to his eye, bruises on his face, neck & feet and a broken right arm and left wrist. Salas maintained it was her boyfriend, Nick Medina who had bitten the boy on the lip. Medina pleaded no contest and on May of 2014 was sentenced to 5 years probation.

Prosecutors say Salas changed her story several times about the boy’s injuries and regardless if she or Medina caused those injuries, prosecutors said Salas failed to protect her child.

Salas has been in prison for the last 6 months. Once she completes her sentence she will be on probation for 5 years.