Former neighbor doesn’t believe Huerta’s abused foster kids

The search has ended for a foster father accused of molesting two children in his care 12-years ago!

Antonio Huerta turned himself into police Thursday morning. He’s been booked into the county jail and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.

He and his wife, Sandra, allegedly forced a young boy and girl to participate in sexual acts. The accusers, who are now adults, say it happened from 2000 to 2002 at the couple’s East El Paso home. That’s where the Huerta’s have lived since the late 1990’s.

On Tuesday, the ABC-7 I-Team uncovered the couple fostered more than 30 children over the last decade and that there were more than a dozen complaints filed against them but nothing came of those investigations.

A former neighbor, who grew up on the street and now lives in Las Cruces, told ABC-7 he was there when the crimes allegedly happened. He lived near the Huerta’s from 1999 to 2005 and says he was best friends with their oldest biological son. He doesn’t believe the accusations.

“I was in their house probably just as much as I was in my own house,” said the 28-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous. “It was a very well kept house. These allegations that have been made are just totally shocking.”

The Huerta’s former neighbor remains a family friend. He said he was 12 when the Huerta’s moved into the neighborhood, and had four biological children of their own, in addition to the 36 foster kids they cared for over the years.

ABC-7 asked him whether the Huerta’s treated their foster children any different than their biological children.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Absolutely not!”

Police say two of the Huerta’s foster children were forced to watch pornography with them in their bedroom, but the man said he never saw any pornography in the home.

“There was times that me and my friend were in his mom and dad’s bedroom and there was nothing of that sort,” he said.

He added that some of the Huerta’s foster children were “very troubled.”

“A lot of them would try to run away,” he said. “That house is locked up pretty tight and they would still try and get out, they would unlock the bars on the windows, they would call the police.”

He believes he recalls the 11-year-old boy, now in his 20’s, who made the accusations last year, and doesn’t believe he’s credible.

“It’s hard to say for sure, because what goes on behind closed doors, it’s hard to say,” he said. “But when I was there it doesn’t seem like any of this would ring true. I’m hoping they are innocent of all these accusations and if it turns out they are not, I won’t have any words.”

Of the 16 investigations of the Huerta foster home the past decade, three alleged sexual abuse, five alleged physical abuse, three alleged neglectful supervision and five alleged a combination of at least two of the above. The state couldn’t find evidence to support 14 of those cases.