“Immense breach of trust of the highest order:” Attorney speaks out after assistant D.A. allegedly sends graphic messages to teen
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- After an assistant Doña Ana District Attorney was fired Monday for alleged misconduct, the attorney for the victim is now saying he intends to hold the public agencies involved accountable.
This comes after a woman sent ABC-7 screenshots of graphic texts.
She said an assistant District Attorney wrote them to her 17-year-old daughter, adding the ADA was working on her daughter's sexual assault case.
The text messages show them talking about a range of topics, but the A.D.A. appears to initiate a conversation about whether the teen had ever kissed a girl — and then asked if she had done anything more than that.
The person texted the girl about his own sexual assault experience in graphic detail, and told her she couldn't tell her mom about any of it.
ABC-7 learned attorney Israel Chávez is now representing the family.
Chávez told ABC-7 on the phone that the most important thing is respecting the victim's privacy, and adds he intends to get justice.
“This is an immense breach of trust in the highest order," said Chávez.
"My office intends to hold the public agencies accountable that are trusted with that responsibility over those that should have protected a young person, a child, from this kind of conduct," he added.
Monday, ABC-7 confirmed with the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office that an assistant D.A. had been fired, but couldn’t say if it was because of these messages.
In a statement, the D.A.’s office said quote, “the District Attorney’s Office employment policies support high standards for its employee’s ethical and professional behavior."
It adds "recent allegations of alleged misconduct of an A.D.A. were made to this office. Upon further inquiry it was determined the alleged misconduct violated applicable policies and the employee was terminated immediately.”
The identity of the fired assistant D.A. has not been made public.
This is still a developing story. Stay tuned both on-air and online as soon for updates as soon as they come into our newsroom.
