A New Mexico mother was arraigned this week on 18 charges related to the abuse of a child, including one count of criminal sexual penetration.
Valerie Cordell, age 41, has pleaded not guilty to the accusations she faces. Her spouse, 50-year-old Melvin Cordell, is facing 24 charges, which include charges related to child sexual abuse. He is scheduled for arraignment next week.
The couple’s arrest occurred in February following a report to New Mexico State Police from Roswell Police. This was after their 16-year-old daughter accused them of abuse while she was at the state National Guard Challenge Academy in October 2024, according to KQRE.
In her statements to investigators, the daughter revealed that she had been pregnant on two occasions after being subjected to “unwanted sex” with her father and two other male relatives, court records indicate. It is alleged that Melvin Cordell conducted “non-consensual” abortions and was involved in “destroying, altering, or concealing” the fetuses.
The teen said that her parents forced her and her siblings to have sex with each in front of adults.
She also said she and her siblings were often starved as punishment and said that there were times when they were denied food after they called 911 and child services came to the 35-acre rural property where the family lived in “underground caves” made of mud.
Court documents describe the property as looking like a “city trash landfill” with buckets of feces, piles and piles of trash, rotting food, animal skeletons, broken appliances, broken campers, other vehicles, and clothing scattered everywhere.
According to the district attorney’s office, seven children lived on the property, ranging in age from 6 months to 16 years. They have all been placed in state protective custody.
The Cordells are both being held without bond.
