Prosecutors have dismissed charges against a Las Vegas teacher and a state police sergeant in two separate rape cases filed in February.
Las Vegas City Schools teacher Leonard J. Romero, 27, was charged with five counts of felony criminal sexual penetration by a school employee on Feb. 3. Those charges were dismissed on April 3.
Charges were also dismissed in a case against New Mexico State Police Sergeant Kevin B. Keiner, 31, of Las Vegas. Keiner was charged with criminal sexual penetration on Feb. 12. Those charges were dismissed on April 4.
Both cases were dismissed by prosecutors without prejudice, a legal term meaning prosecutors reserve the right, but not an obligation, to refile the charges at a later date.
In a motion to dismiss filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court in the case against Romero, prosecutors stated that “additional investigation and evidence collection is necessary before this case proceeds to preliminary hearing.”
In a motion to dismiss filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court in the case against Keiner, prosecutors stated that the charges were being dropped “pending further investigation.”
Both men had been out of jail awaiting trial on $50,000 unsecured bonds. The dismissals remove the bond altogether and remove any restrictions placed on the men by court-ordered conditions of release, including wearing GPS monitors.
When the Optic asked Las Vegas City Schools if Romero was still a district employee. In an email sent Wednesday, Superintendent Larryssa Archuleta said “the district does not comment on personnel matters.”
NMSP did not respond to an inquiry Wednesday about the employment status of Keiner. In February, Chief Tim Johnson said that Keiner had been placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation was conducted.
(3) comments
I’m constantly searching on the internet for posts that will help me. Too much is clearly to learn about this. I believe you created good quality items in Functions also. Keep working, congrats!
Me too. It’s hard to find credible actual local reporting. The police won’t comment or follow up any investigation or do any real police work. You can’t even complain about the police to the police. It’s scary and something should be done and the city , mayor, city officials, all city employees need to be better. And provide the public an open line of communication so we know what’s going on. Thank you
Who are these men exactly, what is their background, where are they employed, and why are they still working anywhere when there is a pending rape investigation, who dropped the investigation, why didn’t the judge at least force ankle monitoring on both individuals.
If you want more information or answers to these questions I’ll be working on them myself.
Welcome to the discussion.
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