New Mexico

‘Frustrating’ lack of CYFD reforms turns criticism toward governor

Published

7 months ago

July 3, 2025

‘Frustrating’ lack of CYFD reforms turns criticism toward governor

The Kevin S. Settlement was a resolution to a class-action lawsuit meant to improve deficiencies within New Mexico’s Children Youth and Families Department.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Kevin S. Settlement was a resolution to a class action lawsuit meant to improve deficiencies within New Mexico’s Children Youth and Families Department.

Five years after the settlement, a lack of progress is weighing on those monitoring progress.

“This has been kind of a frustrating five years. We would have hoped by this point the system would be in a better place than it is right now,” said Judith Meltzer one of the two ‘co-neutrals’ appointed to oversee the court settlement.

During a three hour hearing, an arbitrator heard from CYFD officials, Health Care Authority officials and attorneys for both sides of the lawsuit.

The other co-neutral monitoring the case, Kevin Ryan, highlighted how other states have been able to turn around troubled child protective services departments.

“There was a very committed governor, in all of these instances. There was an executive who was very focused on implementation and making sure the executive branch was working full throttle,” Ryan said.

The plaintiffs asked for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to attend the next settlement hearing.

KOB 4 reached out to the Lujan Grisham’s office and did not receive a response before our deadline.

“Where there’s a will there’s a way. So when the executive branch makes a decision that it’s a priority to achieve its commitment… then all the other barriers fall,” Ryan said. “Of course, CYFD can’t do this on its own. It really requires other agencies, come to the table and say, ‘Yea, we’re going to prioritize this.’ And it is just very unclear to me that, that has happened here.”

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New Mexico

Meta faces New Mexico trial over child-exploitation claims

Published

14 minutes ago

January 30, 2026

Press Room

Meta faces New Mexico trial over child-exploitation claims

Meta Platforms is set to face trial next week in a lawsuit brought by the state of New Mexico accusing it of exposing children and teens to sexual exploitation on its platforms and profiting from it, the first case of its kind against the social media giant to reach a jury.

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New Mexico

Federal grand jury indicts former treasurer for stealing more than $2 million from New Mexico abbey

Published

12 hours ago

January 29, 2026

Press Room

Federal grand jury indicts former treasurer for stealing more than million from New Mexico abbey

A former member of a Norbertine community in New Mexico has been indicted on allegations that he stole millions of dollars from the religious group over the course of several months.

A grand jury handed down charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico alleging that James Owens stole funds belonging to the Norbertine abbey of Santa Maria de la Vid on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

The Jan. 21 charging document alleges that Owens, who reportedly became a brother at the abbey in 2009, began stealing money from the community in 2022. Owens, formerly a certified public accountant and lawyer, had been made treasurer of the organization in 2016, the same year he became a permanent member there.

As treasurer, he had signatory authority over the abbey’s financial accounts and was responsible for the payment of the community’s expenses.

Owens allegedly used “wire communications, monetary transactions,” and other methods to transfer over $2 million to multiple accounts he controlled. Some of the money was used to purchase a home in nearby Placitas, the grand jury said.

The transfers were carried out from around May 2022 to March 2023, the indictment says, during a development project to expand retreat facilities at the abbey.

In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said Owens has been charged with “eight counts of wire fraud, 23 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, and one count of attempt to evade and defeat tax.” He is facing 20 years in prison if convicted.

On its website, the Norbertine community says it established its abbey on property bought from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1995. The property had originally been run as a Dominican convent that replaced a late-1940s airstrip.

The facility offers retreat opportunities including “self-contained hermitages” and guest accommodations.

The community notes that “several of our brothers have their earthly resting places here in our communal cemetery.”

“As Norbertine brothers we will have an everlasting presence on this land,” the website says.

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