ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was supposed to be a safe place for our state’s most vulnerable children but a local treatment center turned into anything but when a teacher sexually assaulted a child.
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It was 2018 when a child at the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center, operated by the New Mexico Department of Health, said he was taken advantage of by his teacher there. “It was upsetting because this is a particular institution that our public entrusts to safeguard our most vulnerable,” said Julio Romero, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff.
Romero, Kelly Sanchez, Mike Hart, and Shannon Kennedy are the lawyers representing the minor in a lawsuit against NMDOH for the abuse. Mark Cuoccio was a teacher at the facility when he started assaulting the child. According to an initial filing, Cuoccio touched the child inappropriately and gave him alcohol and drugs. Another court document accused Cuoccio of sexually assaulting the child multiple times at Cuoccio’s residence.
Years later, the lawsuit is now ending in a $2 million payout for the minor. “It represents justice for our client who has to live with the harm that was caused by this institution,” said Sanchez, attorney for the plaintiff.
Cuoccio also faced criminal charges and pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact of a minor last year. He was sentenced to seven and a half years behind bars but the judge suspended it meaning instead of going to prison he is serving probation.
“Our client did speak up at the sentencing and ultimately accomplished what our client wanted most which is for the community to be on notice of this particular person. So he is now a registered sex offender,” said Romero.
“It is our sincere hope that this, that this case presents real change and will build back the public trust so that no child will have to go through what our client endured,” said Sanchez.
In a statement emailed to KRQE News 13, NMDOH said it does not comment on litigation.
