LAS CRUCES, NM (AP) – A Las Cruces woman was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to what prosecutors described as vicious hours of beating an infant.
Desirae Vargas pleaded guilty to child molestation charges Thursday and was immediately sentenced to prison. She is credited for the two years she has already spent behind bars and has to serve two years on probation after her release.
Prosecutors said Vargas, now 32, beat the 2-year-old daughter of her boyfriend at the time for hours on the night of March 23, 2019. Neighbors called the police in the early hours of the morning and found the little girl with injuries to her face.
Court records reviewed by Las Cruces Sun-News show that a medical exam found she also had bruises and abrasions on her neck, arms, torso, abdomen, back, buttocks, genitals, legs and feet.
Another woman who was in the home was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty of child molestation and failing to report charges of child molestation. Records show that Vargas, the woman, and another guest appeared to have used methamphetamine.
Assistant District Attorney George Harrison said during the trial on Thursday that “the beating lasted so long and even had bite marks.”
Vargas defense attorney told Third Judge Conrad Perea that his client’s past was “littered with violence and traumatic experiences”.
The girl now lives with relatives.
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