A police officer in Milan, New Mexico and another man face rape charges for allegedly forcing a 20-year-old woman into sex acts after a night of drinking, KOB-TV reported.
Authorities said 25-year-old Officer James Watters and another suspect 28-year-old Jessie Terrazas, forced themselves on the woman after driving to a New Mexico State University satellite campus in nearby Grants on Dec. 25. Watters was off-duty at the time of the encounter. Watters is being held on a $100,000 bond, while Terrazas' bond was set at $50,000.
Investigators said that the woman had been rejecting requests from the two suspects, as well as Sgt. Jessie Nieto from the Grants police department, while drinking throughout the evening. The three men reportedly picked her up that night, and they drove to a local high school, where they began drinking.
Nieto reportedly asked to be taken home after the woman mentioned rape. Watters allegedly took more alcohol from Nieto's home while dropping him off, while driving to the college campus with Terrazas and the woman before allegedly assaulting her.
Watters' sister, Chandra Wejs, said he told her that he had had a sexual relationship with the woman. All three men in the car on the night of the incident told investigators that they had received "sexual text messages" from her. Wejs also argued that Nieto should have been charged in connection with the incident.
"I'm not saying that he's guilty or they're guilty," she told KOB. "But if you were all in the same car together, you should all be sitting in jail together."
KOAT-TV reported that Watters, a former firefighter, has been with the department for about five months. Terrazas used to work as a court security officer for the Cibola County Sheriff's Department, but was fired for misconduct in connection with a domestic violence incident.
Watch KOB's report, as aired on Friday, below.
