by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
The alumni adviser to UNM's Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter was the father of pledge Michael McGuffin, who was arrested Tuesday on rape charges.
John McGuffin's position as adviser did not afford his son any special treatment, a spokesman for the fraternity said.
"That doesn't matter. People are still expected to live up to our obligations," Brandon Weghorst said. "All members are expected to live up to our creed."
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Michael McGuffin could not be reached for comment.
John McGuffin did not return phone calls.
John McGuffin has not been the adviser since his son's arrest, said Randy Boeglin, dean of students.
Michael McGuffin, 25, was arrested Tuesday on 11 felony counts, including criminal sexual penetration, sexual contact with a minor and sexual exploitation of children, according to court records.
He had videos of sexual encounters with underage girls, one of whom is 15, the arrest warrant states.
He posted a $15,000 bond on Wednesday, according to court records.
Boeglin said McGuffin was enrolled at UNM for the spring semester, but declined to say if he was still a student because it would violate privacy rights.
The University is investigating the fraternity to determine if other members were involved or knew about McGuffin's actions, Boeglin said.
UNM suspended the fraternity until the investigation is over,
he said.
"They may not participate in University activities," he said. "We ought to reserve judgment until we know all the facts."
Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national headquarters is conducting its own investigation, Weghorst said.
It also suspended the UNM chapter's activities as a matter of protocol, but none of the other members were involved, he said.
"The minute that the chapter had found out about this, they contacted us immediately and filed an incident report," he said. "We sent them a cease-and-desist order. The chapter is expected to halt all of its chapter activity."
In October, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, James Anaya, was arrested on charges of raping a female student at the fraternity's house.
His case is pending in district court.
UNM did not discipline the fraternity when Anaya was arrested.
Boeglin said there was no reason to take action then because no other members were involved.
"We found no direct involvement of the chapter," he said. "In the current case, there is alleged activity involving alcohol and drugs."
Weghorst said the national headquarters had educational seminars on the organization's expectations and values after Anaya was arrested.
The following account is based on the arrest warrant for McGuffin and Lt. Pat Davis, UNM Police spokesman:
On June 9, UNM Police learned that McGuffin was involved with a 15-year-old girl.
The girl and her parents refused to press charges against McGuffin.
He could not be prosecuted because the girl would not admit to the relationship, Davis said.
"Originally, we didn't have a cooperative victim. If the girl doesn't say they had a relationship, there's no crime, so to speak," he said. "Those were some big hurdles we had to overcome."
The District Attorney's Office advised police to wait, he said.
Davis said the department did not tell the fraternity about the girl because it did not want it to compromise the investigation.
A 19-year-old woman went to UNM Police on Aug. 10 and told them she was concerned about McGuffin's behavior.
She had been involved in a sexual relationship with McGuffin since she was 14, but she ended it when she found out McGuffin told police about his involvement with the 15-year-old.
McGuffin threatened to post a video on the Internet of him and the woman having sex.
McGuffin showed that video and others to at least one person, a man who told police McGuffin threatened to kill him and burn down his house.
One of the videos shows McGuffin doing sexual acts with an unknown girl who appeared to be unconscious. Police identified that girl as a minor as well.
Police seized 21 items from McGuffin's room, including his cellular phone, computer, photographs, condoms, videotapes and a bra.
He will be indicted by Oct. 15, said Janet Blair, spokeswoman for Albuquerque Metropolitan Court.
