Santa Fe caregiver accused of abuse had prior conviction

May 21—A national organization that receives public money to serve Santa Fe residents with disabilities hired a caregiver who was convicted in recent months of battering a disabled child in Pojoaque.

Santa Fe police now accuse 20-year-old Salomon Sanchez of abusing a developmentally disabled man in his care.

A criminal case against the young man filed last week provides a glimpse into gaps in the long-term care system for disabled people in New Mexico.

It was unclear Tuesday what charge Sanchez will face. A May 15 criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court charges him with "criminal solicitation to commit abuse of a resident, causing physical harm or great psychological harm." But Lt. Lawrence Barnett said the charge would be changed to different count of felony abuse. He did not specify the charge, and an amended complaint was not publicly available on the New Mexico court database.

Sanchez, who worked at a residential care facility in Santa Fe run by Community Options Inc. until earlier this month, pleaded no contest in January to a battery charge in a May 2023 case tied to an incident that occurred while he was working as an instructional aide at Pojoaque Elementary School.

Community Options Regional Director Kayla Flowers declined to comment on the recent allegation or answer questions about the company's hiring practices.

The New Jersey-based nonprofit operates in 12 states and abroad, with offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Its New Mexico, operations have been cited in recent years for alleged failure to comply with staffing and recruiting standards, according to the state Department of Health.

Police say in the recent criminal complaint Sanchez's supervisor at the home reported an incident in which he was accused of physically and psychologically abusing a resident.

Sanchez was alone with the man May 11 of this year when he refused to allow him to use the restroom and hit him twice, police allege in a statement of probable cause. Investigators wrote in the statement they reviewed video that showed the abuse.

After the resident asked a question that could not be heard in the video, "Sanchez responded that he was not going to take [the man] to the bathroom and that he needed to play with his toys," police wrote.

Sanchez then slapped the man's leg and hand, pushed his wheelchair into a desk, grabbed his hands and said, "Play with your toys, fool," the statement says, adding Sanchez also slammed the man's hands on the desk.

In another video taken the same day, police wrote, Sanchez grabbed the man by the neck and pushed him into the desk and slapped a toy out of his hand.

Another Community Options employee told police the resident was "no longer asking to go to the bathroom and has been urinating himself" since the incident, according to the statement.

Family members of the resident could not be reached for comment.

A year ago, when Sanchez was employed as an instructional assistant at Pojoaque Elementary School, he was accused of restraining a mostly nonverbal, 7-year-old child with autism and forcing soap and water into the child's mouth.

Another teacher at the school told police the incident occurred May 11, 2023 — exactly a year before the recent incident — according to a criminal complaint.

Sanchez told police the child had washed their own mouth with soap and water, at his command, but admitted he "went too far," the complaint says. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery in January and received a sentence of 90 days of unsupervised probation.

The student's mother sued Sanchez and the Pojoaque Valley School District. The case is pending.

It isn't clear when Sanchez was hired at Community Options, but a supervisor told investigators May 12 he was no longer employed there due to the incident.

The provider — which receives millions of dollars from state and federal governments to care for people with disabilities — is required to complete a criminal history background check on staff members in New Mexico, according to state Department of Health regulations.

All home and community-based providers contracted by the department's Developmental Disabilities Supports Division must complete a background check on a caregiver within 20 days of hire and to check the Employee Abuse Registry prior to hiring or contracting with a caregiver, department spokesman David Barre wrote in an email Tuesday.

The department "conducts investigations and provides data-tracking of reported allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation" to improve services and prevent abuse of people in the Development Disabilities Waiver program, Barre wrote, but the department "has no direct involvement in the hiring of staff at our contracted providers."

Community Options has been on a "performance improvement plan" since November 2022, Barre wrote, adding the provider was referred to a multi-agency internal review committee, which found "a significant violation or group of violations" and ordered external monitoring.

"A work plan was put in place in November 2023 and consists of required improvements in many areas including health tracking, incident reporting and staff skills, turnover and recruitment," he wrote. "To date, 13 of the 27 identified tasks have been completed."