BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

James Paul Mang III, 36, of Los Alamos has been charged in Los Alamos Magistrate Court with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a fourth degree felony, in connection with his alleged interactions with a 15-year old female earlier this year.

According to Court documents filed by Los Alamos Police Department Det. Sgt. Ryan Wolking, there is sufficient probable cause to believe that Mang consumed alcohol with the juvenile female, whether he supplied the alcohol or not; “visited with the juvenile female in the middle of the night, which was hidden and kept secret from her parents”; “tried to convince the juvenile female to have secret, encrypted conversations with him, even offering to purchase her a second phone”; “picked up the juvenile female in his vehicle after she left her residence under false pretenses of ‘taking a walk’; communicated his love for the juvenile and “snuggled up” with her.

Wolking stated that Mang committed these acts with a 15-year old juvenile, “with whom he had known and spent time with her family for the last year or so while fearing getting caught and knowing (her) sexual and substance abuse issues and susceptibilities”.

Wolking also stated that Mang is a danger to the children in Los Alamos County.

“It is alleged that James Mang expressed urges towards kids (to which James Mang to agree}, and in the case of (the 15-year old female) it appears that James Mang acted on those urges. It is my fear that James Mang could repeat these actions,” Wolking said.

He said he also believes that Mang is a flight risk, noting that in the texts between Mang and the alleged victim, Mang states that he wishes he could take her “somewhere cool” and mentioned Colorado or California.

“Not only do I fear that James Mang is a danger to juveniles around him and a flight risk himself, but I fear he has the potential to transfer juveniles across state lines,” Wolking’s states.

Mang has been ordered to appear in Los Alamos Magistrate Court May 11.