Criminal charges have been dropped against a New Mexico opera leader accused of propositioning two teenage boys for oral sex earlier this year outside of a Powell grocery store.
Charles MacKay, 75, who retired in 2018 as the general director of the world-renowned Santa Fe Opera, was charged March 22 with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
Those charges were dropped on Nov. 26, and the criminal case against MacKay was sealed, officials with the Park County Circuit Court said.
Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan A. Skoric and MacKay did not return phone calls from Cowboy State Daily to explain why the charges were dropped.
Court records indicate that as of Sept. 8, 2025, MacKay was housed in a memory care center in New Mexico.
MacKay is grateful for the dismissal, said his spokesperson, Amy Weiss.
“He has fully cooperated throughout this process and is relieved to put this matter behind him,” Weiss said. “He appreciates the support he has received and respectfully asks for privacy as he continues to focus on his health and well-being.”
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Powell police Sgt. Tye Reece McLain said in a probable cause affidavit that two boys, ages 14 and 15, respectively, reported that while they were standing in line at the register inside Blair’s Market at 331 W. Coulter Ave. they noticed a man in front of them staring at one of them.
When they left the store, the man offered them ice cream sandwiches if they followed him back to his hotel room and gave him oral sex, the affidavit states.
One of the boys asked the man for his name, to which he replied, Carlos Martinez, according to the affidavit. He then allegedly got into a GMC pickup truck and drove away.
McLain said he spotted the truck parked at the Lamplighter Inn at 234 E. 1st Street in Powell and then contacted MacKay inside his hotel room.
MacKay admitted that he had spoken inappropriately to the boys, adding he had never done anything like that before, and that he sometimes has strong urges because he hasn’t been intimate with anyone for some time, states the affidavit.
MacKay retired from the Santa Fe Opera in 2018 after a decade of service.
Under his leadership, the opera’s assets doubled to $120 million, and its operating budget increased to $24 million. He has also been credited with expanding the opera’s community and educational outreach initiatives.
Before his latest position with Santa Fe Opera, MacKay served as the second general director of the Opera Theater of St. Louis and as director of finance for the Spoleto Festival USA and manager for U.S. artists at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.
Staff writer Andrew Rossi contributed to this story.
Scott Schwebke can be reached at scott@cowboystatedaily.com.
