ALBUQUERQUE - Tyrone Coriz, 48, of San Felipe Pueblo, N.M., was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child in Indian Country. Coriz faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment based on his previous conviction for another federal sex crime in 1992.
According to the evidence at trial, Coriz committed aggravated sexual abuse involving two different sex acts against the same victim between Nov. 1, 2015, and Dec. 27, 2015. Coriz lived in the same home as the victim and other family members. He committed these offenses at night while other household members were sleeping. Coriz committed the abuse while covering the mouth of the victim and telling her to be quiet. Two other previous victims testified that Coriz also abused them in similar ways at various times over more than twenty years. Some of the victims also testified to witnessing Coriz sexually and physically abuse other victims.
Coriz is currently in custody awaiting sentencing at a later date. He was previously convicted of abusive sexual contact against a different victim in 1992. Coriz faces a mandatory term of life imprisonment based on this prior conviction.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case with assistance from the Santa Ana Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Marshall and Kyle Nayback are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
