A Las Cruces mother had a look of shock on her face when she and her boyfriend were taken into custody on Wednesday morning after each pleaded no contest to child abuse charges stemming from a 2016 case that involved a child who, according to investigators, had been stabbed with a butcher's knife and forced to sleep outside in the cold as a punishment.
Josie Rubio, 29, and Stephan K. Cordero, 26, each pleaded no contest to three counts of child abuse not resulting in death or great bodily harm, a third-degree felony, and had been expecting suspended sentences without additional time behind bars.
But 3rd Judicial District Judge Douglas Driggers ordered courtroom deputies to handcuff and take Rubio and Cordero into custody, where they will undergo a diagnostic evaluation before being formally sentenced.
The move appeared to come as a surprise to Rubio, Cordero and their attorneys, who asked the judge to reconsider his decision and allow their clients to undergo private evaluations while out of custody.
Driggers denied the request, and Rubio and Cordero were escorted of out of the courtroom by deputies, prompting claps from at least one spectator.
Rubio and Cordero were
arrested in April 2016 following a child-abuse investigation by the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office that involved Rubio's 11-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.
The boy told investigators that Cordero, Rubio's live-in boyfriend, forced him to sleep outside on the concrete patio as a punishment for wetting his pants, according to court documents. The boy was not given a blanket, he told investigators, and kept warm by using a propane grill.
The boy also told investigators that Cordero would spray him down with water from a garden hose and would beat him with a stick, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Cordero had also stabbed the boy with a butcher's knife, and that Rubio had held down her daughter so that Cordero could strike the girl with a belt. Court documents suggest that the Rubio and Cordero became enraged with the girl because she was "not cleaning right."
Later in 2016, the boy came forward with allegations that Cordero had also sexually assaulted him by forcing him to engage in sexual activity, according to court documents.
Cordero was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual penetration, but that charge and 11 counts of third-degree child abuse were dismissed on Wednesday as part of a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office.
Eleven counts of third-degree child abuse also were dismissed in Rubio's case as part of separate plea agreement.
Under the agreements, Rubio and Cordero agreed to plead to no contest to only three counts of third-degree child abuse.
"After further review of the evidence and speaking with witnesses, we felt this was the appropriate resolution," Damien Willis, the district attorney's spokesman, said in a statement. "It's not ideal, but the child victims in this case are now in loving homes, and this spares them the additional trauma of a jury trial."
Although they pleaded no contest to the charges, Rubio and Cordero still each face a maximum of nine years in prison — three years for each count — because no contest pleas are treated like guilty pleas at sentencing. But defense attorneys told the court Wednesday that prosecutors will not oppose suspended sentences.
Without the agreements, Rubio and Cordero were facing substantial prison time if they were convicted as charged at trial.
However, Driggers told Rubio and Cordero that their final sentences will be determined by him after they undergo a diagnostic evaluation with the Department of Corrections.
Sentencing will be scheduled after the 60-day evaluations are complete.