Court records describe years of alleged abuse involving children taken from Chaparral to an El Paso home.
CHAPARRAL, N.M. — A 37-year-old New Mexico woman has been indicted on trafficking-related charges after investigators said children described being taken repeatedly to an El Paso businessman who allegedly abused them while their mother received money, according to court records and law enforcement documents.
Landy Victoria Carrejo faces two counts connected to allegations involving two children. KVIA reported that Otero County sheriff’s deputies arrested her on two counts of criminal solicitation to commit human trafficking and that a grand jury indicted her in September. Carrejo denied the allegations when she was taken into custody, according to reporting based on the sheriff’s complaint. The accusations have not been proven in court.
The investigation grew from disclosures made by one of the children, according to court documents. Authorities conducted forensic interviews in which a teenager described abuse beginning at about age 4 or 5 and continuing for years. The teenager told investigators the alleged encounters sometimes occurred three or four times a month. Records reviewed by KVIA placed the broader period under investigation between Jan. 2, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2024.
Investigators said Carrejo allegedly took the children to a home in El Paso, where the businessman was accused of sexually abusing them. Court records said Carrejo allegedly received between $400 and $500 after encounters. One child told investigators that Carrejo sometimes gave the child $50 to $100 afterward. Authorities have treated the children’s statements as allegations gathered during the criminal investigation.
A younger child interviewed by investigators also described repeated visits to the home. According to court documents, the child said the alleged abuse began when the children were between 6 and 8 years old and that they were offered money or toys. Investigators documented allegations involving multiple occasions. The records also said the younger child reported that Carrejo once interrupted an alleged incident but continued taking the children to the house afterward.
The allegations came to the attention of Otero County authorities after a father reported what one of the children had disclosed. The father later told KTSM that his child continued to struggle with memories of the alleged abuse and that he wanted those responsible to face the justice system. Authorities have not publicly identified the children in the news reports reviewed for this story.
The sheriff’s complaint also contains allegations that Carrejo physically abused her children. Those allegations are separate from, but part of, the broader account investigators documented while interviewing the family. Prosecutors must prove the criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt, and an indictment represents a formal accusation rather than a finding of guilt.
The El Paso businessman described in the complaint had not been publicly reported as charged in connection with the allegations in the material reviewed for this article. New Mexico authorities shared information from the investigation with the El Paso Police Department, according to the sheriff’s complaint. News organizations said they sought comment from the businessman and from Carrejo’s attorney.
Carrejo is no longer being held in the Otero County jail. Records and subsequent reporting show that she is in federal immigration custody at the El Paso Processing Center while removal proceedings are pending. Her state criminal case remains unresolved, and no finding of guilt has been entered on the trafficking-related allegations.
Author note: Last updated October 17, 2026.