Roswell Jobs Corps Sexual Assault Case Goes to District Court | Local News

The case of a man accused of attempting to sexually assault an underage girl on the Roswell Jobs Corps campus has been moved to district court.

On Sept. 18, the case against Rudolfo Mesa, 23, of Silver City, was transferred to New Mexico’s 5th Judicial District Court for trial or eventual resolution after his attorney waived Mesa’s right to a preliminary examination, according to electronic court records.

Richard Gould, Mesa’s attorney, did not return calls before press time Saturday about the case or the decision to forego the hearing.

Mesa, a student at the Roswell Job Corps campus, was charged with second-degree attempted sexual penetration of a child and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor following an alleged incident on September 8 with a 17-year-old woman.

The criminal complaint filed against Mesa says he groped the woman, also a Roswell Job Corps student, and attempted to perform sexual acts on her.

Police later learned from witnesses and the alleged victim that she and three other women were outside on a campus patio talking when Mesa approached them and propositioned them for sex.

At first, the alleged victim thought Mesa was joking. The lawsuit says witnesses later said, and investigators obtained surveillance video confirming this, that Mesa then grabbed the woman by the wrist and led her around a corner behind the patio.

Mesa then allegedly groped the woman, attempted to kiss her, exposed himself to her and pushed her to the ground.

The alleged victim screamed for help just before one of her friends approached and saw Mesa standing with her pants down and the alleged victim on the ground.

After the alleged victim got up and ran after her friend for protection, the complaint states that Mesa responded by pulling up his pants, bidding both women goodnight and then fleeing.

When police found Mesa on campus and confronted him, he declined to talk about the allegations.

Although Mesa’s bail was set at $25,000, an inmate summary report from the Chaves County Detention Center shows he remains incarcerated at that facility.

Roswell Jobs Corps officials could not be reached for comment Friday to answer questions about whether Mesa was dismissed from the program as a result of the allegations and charges against him.

When the charges surfaced, a Roswell Jobs Corps representative said the program would release a statement about the incident at a later date. As of Friday, Roswell Job Corps had not made this public.