A local woman has been arrested for alleged child abuse and custodial interference after police said that she was involved in taking her 7-year-old nephew to Las Cruces without his parents’ consent.
Debra Peralta, 48, of Roswell was found Sunday in a Las Cruces hotel, according to Roswell Police Department spokesman Todd Wildermuth.
The boy is safe, a New Mexico State Police news announcement stated. Wildermuth said that he was returned to his mother.
Peralta and the boy had been the subjects of missing persons alerts issued by the RPD and New Mexico State Police on Sunday afternoon.
According to Wildermuth, the boy was spending Saturday with his father when Peralta showed up and asked to take the boy to the store with her. The father agreed but the two did not return when expected. The father called the police on Sunday.
A warrant for Peralta’s arrest was issued on Sunday, and a Roswell police investigation led to the two being located at a Las Cruces hotel, where Las Cruces police arrested the woman.
Peralta is scheduled to make her first appearance in Chaves County Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning. The child abuse charge is a third-degree felony, while the custodial interference charge is a fourth-degree felony.
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