Las Cruces couple change plea in child abuse case

A Las Cruces couple charged with multiple counts of child abuse appeared in court Wednesday morning to change their plea.

Stephen Cordero, 27, was charged with 14 counts of third-degree child abuse not resulting in death or great bodily harm.

Cordero and his girlfriend, 31-year-old Josie Rubio, both pleaded “no contest” to three counts of child abuse and could face up to the nine years in prison. Court documents state the abuse happened in 2015, after Rubio and her children moved into Cordero’s home.

Between April and October of 2015, Rubio’s 11-year-old son was forced to sleep outside the home on the concrete patio in his wet clothes as punishment for wetting his pants, according to court documents.

On cold nights, he would ask for a coat or blanket, but Rubio and Cordero allegedly refused to give him either. He tried to keep warm by turning on a gas grill.

Court documents state the boy was sprayed with water from a garden hose, beaten with a stick, and that Cordero shot him with a pellet gun.

Meanwhile, Rubio’s 12-year-old daughter told detectives her mother stomped on her stomach and that Cordero would beat her with a leather belt.

A school counselor who suspected abuse referred the case to law enforcement. The children have been in state custody since the arrests.

Cordero and Rubio pleaded no contest to three third degree counts of child abuse not resulting in death or great bodily harm. Several counts were dismissed as part of plea agreement.

District Judge Douglas Driggers ordered the two to undergo a 60 day diagnostic evaluation with their sentencing to take place at a later date.