4 women file lawsuit against NMSU, allege sexual assault

By John Cardinale

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    ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — A 16-page civil complaint is targeting New Mexico State University and a man named Adrian Gutierrez from San Miguel County New Mexico.

“They were, you know, women who were starting a new career. And this person who assaulted them made it pretty clear during the assault that he would do anything to ruin their lives if they were to say anything,” said attorney Taylor Smith.

Attorneys representing four Jane Doe’s claim Gutierrez was a New Mexico Department of Transportation employee for 24 years conducting Commercial Driver’s License examinations before he was contracted through the university to do the same.

“There’s a significant chance that this has been going on in a lot of different settings for quite a long time, and that there could be other victims out there who are still, carrying this secret alone without support,” attorney Levi Monagle.

Each alleged assault happened in the same manner the woman was instructed to make an emergency roadside stop by Gutierrez it was then the suit claims assaults took place.

“Frankly, it is a huge source of credibility that these women, that their stories unfold in such a similar way, you know, time and time again,” Monagle said.

The attorneys say through their discovery, there was oversight in Gutierrez’s hiring process.

With the recent allegations of sexual abuse involving the NMSU men’s basketball team, Smith said the university needs to be better at vetting its hires.

“I would just say that given his record of accomplishment recently, it is concerning. That should be something they should be looking at in terms of who they’ve vetted and hired, “Smith said.

The attorneys say Gutierrez is being investigated criminally; no charges have been brought against him yet.

We reached out to NMSU.

They told us they do not comment on pending litigation.

We also asked about Gutierrez’s employment; they said they were looking into it but never gave us an update.

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