EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A New Mexico man was sentenced on April 7 to 391 years in prison for multiple sex crimes with a minor, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Alamogordo).
The Alamogordo DA’s Office said this sentence is the longest prison sentence ever handed down in the 12th Judicial District of New Mexico.
As we previously reported, in February, an Otero County jury found Ryan Reese, of Alamogordo, guilty of 18 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor under 13, seven counts of criminal sexual contact, and six counts of incest, according to the Alamogordo DA’s Office.
The investigation began in August 2022 when the minor child disclosed to classmates that she was being sexually abused, the Alamogordo DA’s Office said.
An ensuing investigation revealed that the minor child had been subjected to years of continual sexual abuse beginning at the age of 5 ½ and continued until she was 11, the Alamogordo DA’s Office said.
An Otero County grand jury indicted Reese on multiple counts of sexual abuse in 2023.
The Alamogordo DA’s Office said the sentencing was held before District Court Judge Stephen P. Ochoa, who was appointed to the bench in 2023 and elected to office in 2024.
Ryan Suggs, a former Otero County magistrate who was elected as district attorney in 2024, prosecuted the case just six weeks after taking office, the Alamogordo DA’s Office said.
“When we have a case like this, I will not rest until I know I am going to put the strongest case possible before the jury. My team of prosecutors, staff and victim’s advocates share the same sentiment. When I said that my administration will prosecute those who viciously abuse our children, to the fullest extent of the law, I meant it. I respect Judge Ochoa’s sentence. It’s the most our law allowed him to impose or otherwise I would have asked for something more,” Suggs said.
The Alamogordo’s DA’s Office said Reese must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence imposed before being eligible for parole. With that, he would not become eligible for parole until 2357.
The case was investigated by the Otero County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Suggs and Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Tighe.
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