Las Cruces police arrested a man suspected of breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her just three days after he was released from jail for an incident involving the same woman.
Mathew Paul Gallegos, 35, of the 1600 block of Mahaney Drive, is charged with second-degree felony counts of criminal sexual penetration and aggravated burglary. Gallegos is also charged with a misdemeanor count of violating an order of protection.
Investigators learned that about 2 a.m. on Monday, June 15, Gallegos somehow entered a woman’s home, uninvited, as she slept. Gallegos allegedly went into the woman’s bedroom where he sexually assaulted the woman.
The woman reported the incident to the police after Gallegos left the residence. Police located Gallegos at a relative’s home where he was taken into custody without further incident.
On June 8, Gallegos was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery. In that incident, he is accused of arming himself with a knife, threatening the woman with it, and then physically battering her. The woman obtained an order of protection against Gallegos that forbid him from having any contact with her. Monday’s incident violated the terms of that order. Gallegos was released from jail, on an unsecured bond, on June 12.
Gallegos is now booked, once again, into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is initially being held without bond.