Grants man faces child abuse charges

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A 20-year-old local man faces two counts of felony child abuse and battery against a household member, a misdemeanor.

The child abuse charge against Varian Abeita, of 1801 Cordova Court, Apartment 109, stems from two children, ages 7 and 11, being present in the room while domestic violence occurred, said Grants police Lt. Maxine Spidle, patrol supervisor for the department.

“There are different levels of child abuse,” she said, “and one of those is if a child is placed in a situation where injury or death could happen because of the actions of someone else.”

Police officers Bill Marion and Steve Roberts were called to the Lobo Canyon Apartments about a possible domestic violence incident about 10:22 p.m., on Aug 12. The incident included Abeita, the two children — a girl age 7, a boy age 11 — and the other adult male, according to Magistrate Court records.

Abeita is accused of pushing the male victim and hitting him, while the children were on the floor in the bedroom. The male victim did not fight back, according to court records.

When Abeita pushed the other male to the ground during the fight, one of the children accidentally was knocked to the floor, court records state.

After police gave Abeita his Miranda warning, they questioned him about the fight, and he said he did fight with the victim, court records state.

Police were not able to determine what the cause of the fight was, Spidle said.

If the case is bound over to district court and Abeita is indicted by the 13th Judicial District grand jury before Oct. 23, the preliminary hearing will be canceled.

Abeita, is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in Cibola County Magistrate Court on Oct. 23. If prosecuted and convicted of all charges, he faces up to nearly seven years in state prison, up to a fine of $11,000, or both.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.