LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) – A former Las Cruces teacher who admitted to touching his students inappropriately will not go back on probation.
Patrick Howard received probation for criminal sexual contact and battery charges after several students came forward in 2018. Judge Douglas Driggers dismissed more than two years of Howard’s probation—a decision that received criticism from Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
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Torrez asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to get involved in the decision, saying the victims didn’t get an advanced notice; however, the court declined the request and sent the case back to Judge Driggers to consider reinstating probation. The judge stood by his decision, saying Howard was eligible to be released from probation early.
Attorney General Torrez once again disagreed with that move. “It often seems as though defendants and people charged with crime have more rights than victims do. And sadly, I think that the way in which this sentence was handed down, the disregard that was shown to the victims, young women who have shown an incredible amount of courage to hold this person accountable, really highlights that something needs to change,” said Torrez,
Since Howard got a conditional discharge in the case, he does not have to register as a sex offender.
