近距离内射合集

COURTS

State agrees to pay $1.5 million to settle 2023 rape allegations

Suit filed against former New Mexico State Police officer who now works for Albuquerque schools

Published Modified

The state has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleges she was raped by a former New Mexico State Police sergeant who currently works as a patrol officer for Albuquerque Public Schools.

The settlement agreement, published Aug. 5 on the New Mexico Sunshine Portal, stems from allegations that then-State Police Sgt. Kevin Keiner raped her in 2023 at his Las Vegas, New Mexico, home after she called him to report an assault.

A charge of criminal sexual penetration filed against Keiner in San Miguel Magistrate Court was dismissed by a prosecutor in April 2023, less than two months after it was filed, court records show.

Keiner told a Las Vegas police investigator that he had consensual sex with the woman.

Keiner, speaking through his attorney, Jeramy Schmehl of Albuquerque, declined to speak with the Journal on Tuesday. Schmehl also declined to comment.

Keiner was hired in June 2023 as a patrol officer with Albuquerque Public Schools Police Department, district spokesman Martin Salazar said Tuesday.

"He successfully completed the state-mandated background check prior to his employment and currently maintains an active law enforcement certification," Salazar said in a statement. "He continues to have a clear background and has no pending criminal charges."

Keiner's duties include "patrolling areas of the school district in uniform and marked police vehicle to detect and prevent fire, theft, vandalism and illegal entries," Salazar said. He also performs crowd and traffic control on APS property and investigates school-related criminal activities, he said.

The woman told a Las Vegas police investigator that she was raped by Keiner in February 2023 at his home, according to a criminal complaint filed that month in San Miguel Magistrate Court.

The woman alleged that she called Keiner to file a police report after a man pushed her to the ground, the complaint said.

The New Mexico State Police placed Keiner on administrative leave in February 2023 and later fired him.

The woman filed a lawsuit in June 2024 in 1st Judicial District Court alleging that Keiner, dressed in a State Police uniform, picked her up in a patrol unit and drove her to his home in Las Vegas. The woman "blacked out, due to intoxication" and later woke up while Keiner was raping her, it alleged.

The suit, which named as defendants Keiner, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and New Mexico State Police, sought unspecified damages. The suit was moved to U.S. District Court in July 2024.

Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.