Man must accept deal or face trial for sex assault

STAMFORD — A 42-year-old city man accused of raping and impregnating a 14year-old girl must accept an offer from the state in the next two weeks or his case will head to trial, according to a state prosecutor.

Supervisory State’s Attorney Maureen Ornousky said the state offered Victor Garcia a deal during a supervised pretrial hearing Monday that the 42-year-old would serve 12 years in prison in return for a guilty plea to first-degree sexual assault.

Ornousky said Garcia indicated he would accept that offer following the Monday discussion. But, on Tuesday, Garcia backtracked and said he instead would prefer “a better offer.”

Public defender Barry Butler, who appeared surprised by his client’s refusal of the offer, asked the court to give him more time to discuss the deal with his client.

Garcia will now have two weeks to accept the offer, otherwise the state will withdraw it and the case will move to trial, Ornousky said.

Garcia was arrested on charges of firstdegree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and two counts of illegal sexual contact with a victim under 16 in December 2020 following a nine-month investigation by Stamford police.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Ornousky said that Garcia had threatened to make the then-14-year-old girl’s family “disappear” if she refused his sexual advances. She said Garcia then sexually assaulted the girl multiple times, which led to the teen having a baby.

Ornousky said there is “significant” DNA evidence in the case against Garcia, and that the state is confident that Garcia would be convicted if the matter went to trial.

“I don’t have any problem trying this case, it would be a very simple case for the state to try. We could try it pretty quickly,” she said.

Garcia is next expected to appear in court on March 29.