Two men charged with kidnapping, sexual assault of a minor

LOS LUNAS — Two Valencia County men have been arrested and charged with multiple felonies related to the kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor.  

Los Lunas Police Special Investigations Lt. Nikki DeAnda said a 16 year-old girl was the victim, but is now safe.  

According to the criminal complaint, on Nov. 8, the girl’s mother called the Valencia Regional Emergency Communications Center to report her daughter missing as she didn’t come home from school that day.  

On the afternoon of Nov. 11, the girl was found walking eastbound on Main Street in Los Lunas with a man who was later arrested and identified as 32-year-old Raymond Padilla. They were approaching the river bridge near Edeal Road when they were stopped by a LLPD officer. 

“A concerned citizen called in a welfare check (about the girl),” said DeAnda. “They said the female looked really uncomfortable and distressed, so when our officers went to investigate it they learned the female was a reported missing person.” 

The complaint stated Padilla claimed to be her uncle, which he later recanted, and the girl did not disclose much to the officer when she was initially found because she was scared.  

Two days later, on Nov. 13, DeAnda received a call from the girl’s school resource officer. DeAnda met with the victim in the school counselor’s office because the girl requested to speak about an incident that occurred. After obtaining parental consent from the mother, DeAnda proceeded to interview the victim.  

According to the complaint, the girl told DeAnda she was walking home from school on Nov. 8 when a Hispanic male on a bicycle approached her in front of Wells Fargo Bank in Los Lunas. He asked her if she wanted to smoke with him, which she declined. The girl said the man asked for her help fixing his bicycle and she agreed, following him to an abandoned house. 

Once there, the girl said Padilla threatened her, saying she was not free to leave. She said during this time, he also gave her counterfeit fentanyl pills. 

DeAnda wrote in the criminal complaint, “for a non-user of counterfeit fentanyl pills, the initial use often results in an overdose and death. However, it will also render the new user incapable of cognitive processing and physical defense capabilities.” 

The girl stated after they departed the abandoned house they went to a residence on Baylock Road in Los Lunas, the owner of which was later identified as 36-year-old Dustin Chavez, who is also facing charges.  

The girl said when Chavez came home, he was upset they were there. She stated Chavez asked Padilla about her age, to which Padilla replied that she was 18. Later that night, the girl claimed Padilla sexually assaulted her despite her telling him she was only 16. 

The next day, she said Chavez told them to leave by noon, so she and Padilla left the home on foot to a residence she later identified as 702 South Los Lentes Road, where she saw several people using drugs inside the house.  

That night, the victim stated they again walked to the house on Baylock. She alleged in the report Padilla put a knife alongside her back for part of the walk back. The girl said in the complaint she and Padilla remained at this location up until Nov. 11, with Chavez making regular appearances.  

She said Padilla still refused to let her leave during this time and he continued to force her to ingest fentanyl pills and to smoke what the girl suspected was methamphetamine at one point.  

“She recalled having either six or seven sexual encounters with him during the three and a half days she was not able to leave, despite her repeated requests to go home,” the criminal complaint reads. 

On Nov. 11, she and Padilla left Chavez’ residence and walked to Dollar Tree. After leaving the store, they made a brief stop at Calvary Chapel Church before making their way to the river bridge in Los Lunas, where she was found by a LLPD officer.  

DeAnda said Chavez was found and arrested on Nov. 15 at 702 South Los Lentes Road, where Padilla and the girl had stopped previously. Padilla was arrested on Nov. 16 behind Smith’s in Los Lunas.  

The detective described the South Los Lentes property as a “squat house” that Chavez and Padilla would visit regularly.  

DeAnda said in the criminal complaint the girl identified both Chavez and Padilla in a photo lineup.  

Both men were booked into the Valencia County Detention Center and remain in custody. Chavez  is being held on a $10,000 cash or surety bond, while Padilla’s release can be secured only by a $5,000 cash bond. If released, both are ordered to report to pretrial services and will be put on GPS monitoring systems. 

According to the criminal complaints, Chavez is charged with conspiracy to commit (child abuse), child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. 

Padilla is charged with kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse.