Helping Survivors Retake Control From Abusers

Sex abuse is about control. For survivors, the feeling of a lack of control is often lasting and haunting. For perpetrators, control and the need for it is at the core of their actions. We at Lane + Linnenburger + Lane uniquely understand and appreciate this dynamic. Our approach, unlike so many others, is geared towards helping survivors regain their power and take back control. We help to open the doors to greater healing.

Robert Apodaca is only the latest Santa Fe Public Schools educator to be charged as a serial pedophile, the latest Boy Scout leader to be charged as a serial pedophile, and the latest Santo Nino Regional Catholic School leader to be charged as a serial pedophile. But like all the cases before, there is a battle of control going on.

Late in 2022, local prosecutors tried to give Apodaca a plea deal that would have re-victimized survivors with no-admission and no-jail time for some of the worst allegations and for several of the survivors. Survivors bravely took control after our lawyers insisted, and a judge rejected the proposed deal. When the system pushed back, we were there to again assert the power of our client and ensure survivors, not abusers, had control.

And that struggle over control continues. We are grateful to the Court for taking a stand and ensuring that serial sex abusers are reminded that they are no longer in control. Read the story in the Santa Fe New Mexican below.

Judge refuses to set plea hearing for accused child molester, orders mental evaluation, Santa Fe New Mexican