Former Camino Real Middle School teacher Wyatt Cornelius was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday, Nov. 5, for sexually inappropriate communications with a 13-year-old student.

District Judge Richard M. Jacquez imposed the sentence in Third Judicial District Court, according to Organ Mountain News. Cornelius, 43, will receive approximately six months of credit for time served since his April 22 arrest, leaving about 18 months on his prison term, Third Judicial District Attorney Fernando Macias said.

As we reported Nov. 5, Cornelius faced sentencing after pleading guilty in October to child solicitation by electronic communication device and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Both are felonies.

Organ Mountain News reported Cornelius must serve one year of parole and one year of probation upon release. KTSM reported one year of parole but did not mention probation. Both outlets reported he must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

What prosecutors said

Macias had urged the court to impose the maximum of 36 months, KTSM reported. He told the judge the conduct was not a one-time incident but a gradual abuse of power that began with grooming and escalated to "challenging" the student to visit Cornelius at his home at 3 a.m., according to KTSM.

"Cornelius was a 43-year-old educator who groomed a 13-year-old girl. This was not an isolated incident. It was a calculated process," Macias said, according to Organ Mountain News. "The defendant engaged in a monthslong betrayal that likely would have continued had he not been caught."

According to prosecutors, Cornelius used a school communication app to engage in sexually inappropriate conversations with the student before moving the exchanges to Snapchat. He made sexually explicit comments and encouraged the student to sneak out to meet him, the Third Judicial District Attorney's Office said.

The conduct occurred between September 2025 and February 2026, according to KVIA.

Family addressed the court

Members of the student's family spoke before Jacquez imposed the sentence, Organ Mountain News reported. The student's father asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence, according to KTSM. He choked up on the stand as he described what the family had gone through.

The student's parents said in their statement: "This has been the most difficult thing we have ever experienced as parents. There is a particular helplessness in watching your child suffer because of decisions made by an adult," according to Organ Mountain News.

Cornelius also addressed the court. "I understand that my communication with the minor was inappropriate," he said, according to Organ Mountain News. "It crossed the line that no teacher should cross."

He apologized to the student's family, Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) and his own family, and said he had spent more than six months in custody reflecting on his conduct and participating in counseling, Organ Mountain News reported.

Background

Authorities arrested Cornelius on April 22 after a student reported the relationship. LCPS had hired him on July 1, 2006, and terminated him on May 22, 2026, KVIA reported.

In July, two additional counts of criminal sexual contact were added after a second student came forward. Under the October plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed the criminal sexual contact charge and two charges from the second case in exchange for guilty pleas to the two remaining felonies, according to Organ Mountain News.

Macias and Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Willson prosecuted the case following an investigation by the Las Cruces Police Department. No public statement from LCPS regarding the sentencing appeared in available records as of publication.