Man flees after confessing sexual assault on 7-year-old

Geoff Grammer | The New Mexican
Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - 3/31/11

Police are looking for a Guatemalan man they say is trying to flee to his home country after he admitted to raping a 7-year-old girl in the Santa Fe home where he had rented a room.

An arrest warrant has been issued charging Mario Humberto Cortez-DelCid, 28, with 11 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor between mid-February and mid-March.

Santa Fe Police Detective Sgt. Louis Carlos said Cortez-DelCid is not related to the abused girl but was renting a room from her parents at their home in the 6900 block of Airport Road.

"While the father would be in the shower getting ready for work, the suspect would commit the acts — sometimes going and getting the girl and taking her to his room — and threatened her that he would do it even worse if she told anyone," Carlos said. "Fortunately, this little girl mustered up the courage to eventually tell her grandmother what was happening."

Police say the family knew Cortez-DelCid through mutual friends. When they confronted him about the sexual-abuse allegations, he initially denied it before relenting, according to Carlos.

"They say that he put his hands together as if he was praying, looked up to heaven, fell to his knees and said in Spanish, 'God forgive me,' " Carlos said.

Cortez-DelCid reportedly left the apartment and all his belongings in the home before the father — who police say was "enraged" — got home.

Cortez-DelCid reportedly told his employers at Lowe's Marketplace and Kmart, both in the 1700 block of St. Michael's Drive, he would be traveling home soon. Family and acquaintances have told police he's been asking for money to be able to afford a trip home to Guatemala, Carlos said.

The arrest warrant carries with it a $1 million cash-only bond, and he may face a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold if arrested. Police said Cortez-DelCid is not in the United States legally.

Asked where police obtained the picture of Cortez-DelCid released to media on Wednesday afternoon, Carlos said it was from his New Mexico driver's license. That same license indicates Cortez-DelCid is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds.

He does not have a felony criminal record in New Mexico, and police say he has lived in the Santa Fe area for about five years.

Anyone with information on Cortez-DelCid's whereabouts is asked to call Santa Fe police at 428-3710.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com">SantaFeCrime.com.

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