For Immediate Release:
October 17, 2019
Contact: Matt Baca — (505) 270-7148
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Today, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that San
Juan County Magistrate Court Judge Rena Scott found probable cause to believe Bennie
Earl Wabbington committed four first-degree felonies in 2008 and 2009 by sexually
penetrating his then-girlfriend’s daughter. The young woman — still a minor —
courageously testified at the preliminary hearing in Farmington yesterday against the man
charged with molesting her when she was a young child.
“Protecting our children from violent, sexual predators is absolutely the top priority for my
office,” said Attorney General Balderas. “I commend the young survivor and her family for
having the courage to face her aggressor head on, and I look forward to achieving justice
on her behalf.”
Wabbington and three others (Brandy Stevens, Casey Stallings, and Michael Stevens)
all stand accused of sexually molesting the same young woman during this same time
period. Aragon, Stallings, and Stevens are expected to have separate preliminary
hearings in San Juan County before the end of 2019.
Wabbington’s case will next be bound over to Eleventh Judicial District Court for trial on
the charges. There is not yet a presiding judge or a trial date. Wabbington faces 72 years
in prison if convicted of all charges.
