A 12-year-old boy’s mother and grandfather have been charged with child abuse after investigators found he has been living alone for close to a year, hasn’t gone to school for two years, and hasn’t had hot water or heat all winter.
New Mexico State Police Agent Mario Villanueva charged, on Feb. 21, mother Iris Ortega, 31, and grandfather Emilio Ortega, 71, each with one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony, while Emilio Ortega was additionally charged with one count of failure to report child abuse or neglect, a misdemeanor.
Villanueva wrote that the investigation started on Feb. 2, when the boy called 911 because he was “cold, numb, and had a hard time breathing.” Officers went out to his trailer in Hernandez and found there was food and running water but the only heating sources was space heaters.
A day later, investigators had a forensic interviewer speak to the boy. He told them he had been living alone since late 2024, after his grandfather moved in with a cancer patient he is taking care of, while his mother moved into a house in Española with her wife sometime in 2023, Villanueva wrote.
The boy said his mother would “periodically” visit and bring food but had not been there in weeks, while his grandfather visited him daily and brought him food. While he would sometimes visit his mother’s house, he would be taken back to the unheated trailer “because he enjoyed being on his own and liked the privacy,” he wrote.
The boy told them he had not showered in a month because there was no hot water and the hot water heater had been turned off since 2023 and the furnace hadn’t worked since then either, Villanueva wrote.
“(The boy) said he used to use the cooking stove top and oven to heat the house; however, due to the consumption of propane, his grandfather asked him not to use so much propane,” the agent wrote. “(The boy) shared he now used two electric space heaters to heat the trailer.”
The boy told them he knew how to cook, thanks to his grandfather, he cleaned up for himself and there was always food at the trailer. However, he had not been to school in two years, he wrote.
“(The boy) shared that he was enrolled in school at one time; however, an incident happened that prevented him from being in school,” Villanueva wrote. “At the end of the forensic interview KQ disclosed that he wanted a normal kid life where he goes to school, eats, and showers.”
Villanueva talked to Emilio Ortega, on Feb. 4, who said the boy had only stayed with his mother three times in the last year and confirmed that he stopped living at the trailer in July 2024, when he became the caretaker for a cancer patient, although he said he slept three nights a week at the trailer with his grandson, Villanueva wrote.
Emilio Ortega allegedly told the agent that he tried to enroll his grandson in school but couldn’t because he didn’t have his immunization records, he couldn’t get them because he wasn’t the boy’s guardian and the mother was busy with work, Villanueva wrote.
He allegedly told the agent that the trailer has water, electricity and the means to heat it, but the furnace is turned off and has been all winter and that the hot water heater works, but it’s been turned off since April 2024 to save money, he wrote.
“Emilio claimed that there was never any agreement between him and Iris, stating that Emilio would take care of (the boy),” Villanueva wrote. “Emilio said he just helped as needed, and Iris let him care for (the boy).”
Villanueva wrote that he charged Emilio Ortega because he knew of the child’s “subpar living and education conditions and did nothing to change or report these conditions to the proper authorities.”
He wrote that he tried repeatedly to interview Iris Ortega but she never picked up the phone, responded to his text messages and her wife initially answered the phone and then texted him that she didn’t want to comment.
The agent went on Feb. 13 to the couple’s house to try and interview Iris Ortega. While cars were in the driveway and the TV was on in the house, he was not able to interview anyone.
Villanueva had Emilio Ortega summonsed into court while he had Iris Ortega arrested on Feb. 27. Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid released her the same day on her personal recognizance. A status conference in her case was set for April 2, while Emilio Ortega is set to appear in court later this month.
Iris Ortega’s wife has not been charged.
Neither of the Ortegas has a criminal court history in New Mexico, per a search of online court records.