Suspected molester to face jury

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — A BIA elementary school teacher is on his way to trial in state district court after waiving his preliminary hearing.

Marcelito Creer of Tohatchi was supposed to have had a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Henrietta Soland on Tuesday on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under the age of 13 but agreed to waive the hearing.
He is currently being held in the Gallup-McKinley County Adult Center on $50,000 bond.

The case against Creer goes back to June 18 when the parents of the victim went to the sheriff’s office and reported that their son had been sexually assaulted by Creer on May 25. The incident occurred while the youth was staying overnight with friends at the home of another family who lived in the Tohatchi teacherage housing, according to court records.

The parents told police that Creer, for reasons never made clear, also stayed overnight at the family’s house and during the night began to kiss the victim and then proceeded to rub his hands over his body before molesting him. The parents found out that this happened from a parent of a friend of the victim.

According to court records, the victim’s family at first was undecided how to handle the allegation even after the victim explained to his family what had happened to him that night.
A decision was made to hold a community meeting on May 26, during which Creer reportedly confirmed what the victim had said to his parents and said he was sorry. The court records also indicated that Creer told the victim’s father “to go ahead and kill him over the incident.”

The father reportedly told Creer that he was not God and that Creer would have to pay for the crime in another way. Creer then offered to provide compensation to the family so that the victim could have counseling. According to the court documents, he did write out four checks to the family, one of which was meant, according to the check, to pay for the victim to attend a local carnival.

After discussing the situation with close friends and a family doctor, the family decided that the best solution was to inform the police to prevent him from doing this to any other child. There was also a concern by family members, according to the court documents, that he worked as an educator in a facility with young male children who would be available to him to victimize.