Teens take plea deal in Valencia hazing

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Two former Valencia High School students accused of raping a teammate decided to take a plea deal Thursday.

Jeremiah Carroll and Jake Sanchez are now looking at a couple of years in a juvenile detention facility as opposed to the over ten years they were facing before .

In the fall of 2010 the two boys, along with Curtis Peralta , took part in a hazing incident at Valencia High School where police alleged the victim was held against his will and sodomized with a finger in the locker room in front of other teammates.

Carroll and Sanchez were 17-years-old at the time but charged as adults and therefore subjected to adult sentences.

On Thursday both teens pleaded no contest to aggravated battery; in exchange the original charges of raping and kidnapping were dropped. They will now be sentenced as juveniles.

The judge can sentence them to a juvenile detention facility until their 21st birthdays or decided on a shorter sentence. This sentence is expected to come down in a few months.

District Attorney Lemuel Martinez says the deal was a good one for everyone involved.

The District Attorney’s Office says the victim’s family approved the deal, which prevents the victim from having to testify.

Peralta was 18-years-old at the time of the crime and took a deal last year pleading guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was supposed to testify against Sanchez and Carroll.

He is still awaiting a plea deal.