Affidavit: Coach at Santa Teresa Middle discussed taking girl out of school to ‘hook up’

A criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states a seasonal coach at Santa Teresa Middle School sent sexually explicit photos to a student and planned to take the girl out of school so they could “hook up.”

On May 8, 2019, detectives with the Sunland Park Police Department arrested the seasonal soccer and track coach accused of soliciting the 14-year-old student for sex. Matthew Evan Bird Soto, 30, of El Paso Texas, is charged with a single count of Child Solicitation by Electronic Device and two counts of Criminal Sexual Communication with a Child.

Police said Soto, a former Air Force Airman, has been at Santa Teresa Middle School in Sunland Park, New Mexico since 2016. School administrators told investigators Soto was only a temporary coach hired for the track and soccer seasons. Soto told investigators he is a student at the University of Texas at El Paso and assists at Santa Teresa Middle School during the soccer and track season.

The criminal complaint reveals the accuser reached out to a friend when she allegedly started receiving “unwanted snapchat messages” from Soto. The girl took screenshots of her alleged conversations with Soto and sent the screenshots to the friend, who then told her mother. The friend’s mother then contacted authorities.

When investigators spoke with the accuser, she allegedly told them she first reached out to Soto for advice and guidance. The girl said the conversations then turned flirtatious. At one point, Soto allegedly told the girl he wished she was an adult “so that he could be with her,” the criminal complaint states. Soto, the document further states, told the girl “his birthday was in a few days and he would like a kiss for his birthday gift.”

The accuser told police Soto “was willing to pull her out of class and kiss her on school property” and that Soto “was also requesting pictures of her.” The girl said she never sent Soto any photos, but said Soto sent her a photo of his upper body, the court document states.

The girl told police she became scared on Friday, May 3, 2019 when Soto allegedly sent her a voice memo. “Mr. Soto informed her that she had better send him pictures or herself because, if she didn’t, he knew where to find her,” the criminal complaint states. The girl told police she blocked Soto on Snapchat that night.

During an interview with police, the coach said that at the end of the soccer season, a student posted a photo of him with the soccer team on Snapchat. Soto told police the student who posted the photo then sent his username to other students.

Soto initially admitted to having conversations with his accuser in person, not via social media, the court document states. However, he would allegedly go on to admit to having some conversations on Snapchat. When asked what the conversations were about, Soto allegedly admitted they were “sexual in nature,” the criminal complaint states.

Soto allegedly told investigators he and his accuser discussed being in a relationship. He allegedly admitted to asking the girl for a kiss for his birthday and told investigators he wanted to “hook up” with the girl, the court document states.

When investigators asked Soto what “hooking up” meant to him, Soto allegedly replied, “to have sex,” the court document states. Soto, the document further states, told investigators he had a conversation with the girl about taking her out school one day so they could “hook up.”

Soto allegedly admitted to sending to photos of his upper body to the girl, the court document states. When asked if the girl sent him any photos, Soto allegedly told investigators she sent him two photos: one of her face and another photo in which the girl slightly pulled down her pants to “reveal her lower back,” the document states. During a second interview with a forensic interviewer, the girl allegedly admitted to sending the photos to Soto.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl told the forensic investigator Soto sent a graphic photo in which he was masturbating and another photo of his genitalia. The girl claimed Soto “asked her to have a child with him” and he was “willing to wait for her until she turned 18 so that they could be together.”

Soto was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is initially being held without bond.