Man Suspected of Inappropriate Contact with Young Girl
Police arrested a Mesquite man suspected of having inappropriate sexual contact with a young girl last weekend.
Jose Cruz Elizalde, 48, from Mesquite, N.M., is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. Both counts are third-degree felonies.
On March 14 police were dispatched to a Las Cruces home where Elizalde sometime resides with his girlfriend of a few months. Investigators learned Elizalde was there for the evening on March 13 and stayed the night. He and his girlfriend were drinking alcohol and watching movies with her children.
Investigators learned that sometime after his girlfriend went to bed, Elizalde inappropriately touched the woman’s 11-year-old daughter at least twice. Investigators learned the young girl escaped Elizalde’s grasp and sought safety in a sibling’s bedroom. The girl disclosed what occurred and her teenage sister called police.
Police were dispatched to the home and took Elizalde into custody while the investigation proceeded.
Elizalde was arrested later that day and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center. He has since been released on his own recognizance.
