CLOVIS, N.M. (TCN) — An occupational therapist will spend three decades behind bars for sexually assaulting multiple underage patients “under the guise of providing therapy for behavioral and physical disabilities.”
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Sept. 15 that a judge sentenced Jared Cordum to 30 years after he previously pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor, two counts of third-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor, one count of manufacturing visual medium of sexual exploitation of children, and one count of voyeurism. Cordum will also have to register as a sex offender.
The New Mexico Department of Justice learned of the defendant’s crimes on May 3, 2024, after parents and guardians of several children who had been patients of Cordum contacted Clovis Police. A foster parent reportedly told a school therapist that the defendant had come to their home to treat a child and inserted “something into his rectum.” The NMDOJ said other parents and guardians reported similar behavior by Cordum and “cited the home visits as being ‘odd’ and ‘uncomfortable.'”
The victims’ parents claimed Cordum’s “so-called ‘treatment’ of their children seemed bizarre and sexual in nature.” Authorities said the parents were sometimes present during the abuse of the victims.
According to the NMDOJ, local pediatricians and day care centers referred Cordum, but one pediatrician said they “never received Cordum’s many evaluations and that they didn’t believe Cordum should be conducting ultrasounds and electrode analysis, as he is an occupational therapist.”
A forensic expert reportedly determined that “Cordum ‘violated the standard of care for occupational therapy’ when he directed children to remove their swim trunks during bathing/showering routines, administered enemas and suppositories to his patients, and when he utilized imaging modalities to diagnose bowel issues.”
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