Three New Mexico Women Face Dozens Of Child Abuse Charges
By: Three New Mexico women have been arrested and accused of multiple counts of child abuse.
The women are now facing dozens of criminal charges in connection to the alleged abuse, which authorities said included chaining children to their beds, locking them in dog cages and shoving a child’s face in vomit over a period of years, according to court documents obtained by KOB.
Jayme Kushman, 37, is facing 23 criminal charges — including 21 counts of child abuse, one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse and one count of obstructing a report of child abuse or neglect — according to jail records reviewed by Oxygen.com.
Her ex-girlfriend Jamie Sena, 29, is also facing 23 charges, including 21 counts of child abuse, one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse and one count of obstructing a child abuse investigation.
Both women were arrested late last month. A third woman, 41-year-old Lora Melancon — who was also previously romantically linked to Kushman — was taken into custody this week. She’s facing three counts of child abuse and one conspiracy charge, according to Law & Crime.
Jayme Kushman, Jamie Sena and Lora Melancon Photo: Curry County Detention Center
The disturbing allegations against Kushman go back as far as 2013, according to the court records.
Kushman and Sena, who appeared in court last week, are accused of starving and beating six children in their care, according to KRQE.
The alleged abuse was allegedly captured on video that discovered by New Mexico State Police during the investigation. It allegedly showed the children being chained to their beds and suffering severe beatings. Prosecutors played some of the footage in court while arguing that both women should remain behind bars before trial.
The children, who were a mix of the women's own children, family members' children and at least one foster child, were allegedly kept chained to the beds to keep them from accessing food in the kitchen in a home that investigators have described as being in filthy condition, the Associated Press reports. The Texico home had no running water and a broken toilet was filled with human waste.
Police found dog feces and a strong smell of urine throughout the home.
According to the court documents, children were also allegedly locked in dog cages despite brutally cold weather or forced to stand in a corner for days over the years.
Kushman is also accused of using a paddle to beat the children and of punching them in the face.
Authorities said videos taken in the home showed one boy’s face “being smothered in his own vomit.”
The alleged abuse was uncovered after the New Mexico Child, Youth and Families Department reached out to police on July 22 about a possible case of abuse.
Witnesses and at least one local police officer said CYFD had been to the home in the past, but witnesses told state police investigators they believe the women may have been tipped off and had time to prepare.
All three women are being held without bond in the case, according to KOB.