Man lured girls to trailer with candy and abused them, feds say. He’s headed to prison

A man is going to prison after being accused of sexually abusing two girls in his New Mexico trailer, federal officials said.

Between January 2016 and January 2020, Joel Ruiz, of Dulce, sexually assaulted two girls under the age of 12 in his Jicarilla Apache Reservation trailer after luring them in with candy, McClatchy News reported.

One of the girls said the 65-year-old abused her when she was 6 or 7 years old, according to an Aug. 21 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The other girl told the jury she was abused when she was 3 or 4 years old, officials said.

Ruiz was sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, prosecutors said.

McClatchy News reached out to Ruiz’s lawyers on Aug. 22 and was awaiting a response.

Dulce is about a 170-mile drive north of Albuquerque.

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom .

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