Crime roundup: Porterville teen charged with child molestation
On Friday, January 25, Porterville Police Department received an investigation from the Exeter Police Department alleging a sexual assault that occurred in Porterville in early January.
The 19-year-old suspect, who had not yet been positively identified, was reported to have picked up the 12-year-old victim from her home in Exeter driving a black Mazda Miata.
He portrayed himself as a 16-yearold and used the ruse that he was taking the juvenile to play with his sister. A forensic interview was conducted soon thereafter with the 12 year old female victim, which developed further evidence in this matter.
On Friday at approximately 12 p.m., Juventino Garcia was located arriving at his residence in Porterville and was arrested without incident. With him in the vehicle was a 14-year-old female who he identified as his girlfriend.
Garcia admitted to a dating relationship with the 12-year-old victim, claiming to not have known her age until after their relationship began. He was booked into the custody of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office on charges of child molestation and communication with a minor to arrange sex.
Based on the findings and evidence uncovered during this investigation, it is believed that there are potentially more unreported victims of sexual assault at the hands of Juventino Noe Garcia.
If you or someone you know has been in questionable contact with this suspect, you are urged to contact Detective Orlando Ortiz at (559) 7827400.
Bank of Sierra employee arrested for embezzling over $100K
On January 16, management of the Bank of the Sierra Corporate Office in Porterville discovered a potential internal embezzlement. The information was turned over to Porterville Police and detectives quickly as-
sumed the investigation.
Detectives were provided with hundreds of pages of financial records, detailing ongoing fraudulent transactions dating back to October of 2017. The fraudulent transactions resulted in a theft of more than $114,000. The bank has since been able to recover nearly $30,000 of the stolen funds.
Further investigation by PPD detectives revealed that bank employee Jennifer Silva was solely responsible for the fraudulent transactions. The case was reviewed by Tulare County District Attorney’s Office White Collar Crime Unit and a warrant was issued for Silva’s arrest.
On February 4, Jennifer Silva turned herself in to authorities and was booked into the custody of the Tulare County Sheriff.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact Detective Michael Gray (559) 7827400.
Sex offender arrested after falsely claiming he lived in Porterville
On Thursday, January 31, detectives who manage Porterville’s sex offender registration caseload were made aware of a potential failure to properly register as a convicted sex offender.
It was discovered that convicted sex offender Jason Bills had falsely registered as residing in the City of Porterville. Information obtained during further investigation revealed that he was not living in Porterville and was believed to be residing at one of multiple locations in Fresno County.
On Friday, February 1, detectives sought to contact Jason Bills at his listed place of employment in the Kingsburg area. It was determined that he had not worked there for nearly two years, yet Bills had reported he was employed by this organization only two weeks ago and that he had been employed there for several years.
Detectives checked addresses in the Sanger area, confirming Bills had in fact resided there months ago and in doing so, failed to register with the local authorities. He had since moved out and was believed to be living in Clovis.
With the assistance of Clovis Police Department, Porterville Police Detectives located Jason Bills at his true address in the City of Clovis. He was found to have been residing there for nearly a year and failed to register with the local authorities as required by law.
Jason Bills was arrested without incident and booked into the custody of the Tulare County Sheriff. He was also found to have an active misdemeanor warrant, which was served.
Anyone with information pertaining to this case is urged to contact Detective Ortiz at (559) 782-7400.