LCPD: Man raped 14-year-old runaway at gunpoint

Police arrested a Las Cruces man accused of holding a 14-year-old runaway against her will and sexually assaulting the girl at gunpoint inside his mobile home.

Johnny Christopher Wilson Lopez, 34, of the 900 block of east Madrid Avenue, is charged with a first-degree felony count of kidnapping, a second-degree felony count of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, a third-degree felony count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and a fourth-degree felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Investigators said the girl ran away from home after getting into an argument with a relative the evening of Friday, November 3, 2017. The girl tried to hide from family and a police officer behind a trailer where Lopez lives, police said.

Investigators learned Lopez saw the girl hide, and indicated to the police officer the girl jumped a fence and fled the area. Lopez then pushed the girl underneath his mobile home where she stayed for a while to avoid detection, police said.

Lopez allegedly gave the girl a cigarette, a bottled water and a sandwich, then took her inside his mobile home where he raped the girl, police said.

Investigators learned the girl, who did not know Lopez prior to this incident, resisted, but Lopez was armed with a handgun and used it to threaten the 14-year-old.

Investigators believe Lopez took the girl to a shed on his property and closed the door. When the girl saw that Lopez had left, she ran out of the shed and was subsequently located by an LCPD officer. After the girl was returned home, she disclosed to a relative what had occurred.

Lopez was arrested Friday evening and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he’s initially being held without bond.