Artist pleads no contest to child abuse

After 6 1 /2 years, the last child-pornography and molestation case against an Embudo artist came to an end Monday.

Mark Rendleman, 55, pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse and was sentenced to three years’ probation, though District Judge Michael Vigil said he could be released from probation in 18 months. Also, as part of the plea deal, Rendleman will not have to register as a sex offender.

“Your honor, I’ve never molested or abused anyone, much less those that I love and care for,” Rendleman said in court Monday. “I’ve never had any sexual interest in any children. If I am guilty of anything, it is that I believe in letting my children to be free and explore themselves and to question everything.”

In February, a Santa Fe jury acquitted Rendleman of criminal sexual contact of a minor. He had been accused of touching a then-13-year-old girl’s genitalia.

However, he still faced 11 counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and five counts of sexual exploitation of children for a number of other nude pictures taken at his Embudo home in Rio Arriba County featuring himself, a boy and a girl. The charge Rendleman pleaded to Monday was part of the original indictment against him. The rest of the charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Prosecutor Tom Cruse said the child-abuse charge related to an incident in August 1996 when Rendleman allowed a boy to take nude pictures of Rendleman’s young daughter and another girl on the kitchen counter of the Embudo home. The situation “endangered (the boy’s ) mental health,” Cruse said.

Rendleman’s attorney, Peter Schoenburg, called that explanation “convenient fiction” and said the district attorney’s case against his client continually changed depending on the type of hearing being held. He said the embarrassment Rendleman and his family have suffered because the pictures — which he termed “private, family photos” — have been publicly viewed was “compounded 100 percent by the state.”

In addition, Rendleman’s relationship with his daughter was damaged because of the case, and he has been financially drained, Schoenburg said.

Judge Vigil said he thought the plea was “probably an appropriate resolution to the case” and believed the Rio Arriba photos were taken for artistic purposes. He also said that based on the evidence he heard during the Santa Fe trial, he felt the children in the photos who were not Rendleman’s were already “emotionally damaged” before Rendleman knew them, and that their mother might have manipulated their stories.

“Still, I hold you responsible,” Vigil said. “A light bulb should have gone on that said, ‘This is not a good idea.’ Probably now you would agree with that. I expected you to be more careful with these children.”

District Attorney Henry Valdez said in a phone interview Monday that he decided to offer the plea because the legal and evidentiary concerns that came to light in the Santa Fe trial would also have been present had Cruse gone to trial in the Rio Arriba case. He also pointed out that the state Attorney General’s Office handled the case for most of the 6 1 /2 years it was pending.

“There was no way we could make up for those six years,” Valdez said. “I felt this was a good resolution.”

Vigil granted Rendleman a deferred sentence, meaning that once his probation is successfully completed, the child-abuse charge — a felony — will be dismissed. If Rendleman doesn’t violate the terms of his probation , he will be released after 18 months, the judge said.

Contact Jason

Auslander at 995-3877 or jauslander@sfnewmexican .com.