Judge declares mistrial in case of man accused of sexually abusing underage girls
The jury in the trial of a man accused of sexually abusing three female juveniles could not reach a unanimous verdict on six of the charges against him, so a Yuma County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial on Thursday.
Roberto Garcia had been charged with three counts each of aggravated assault of a minor and sexual abuse and two counts of molestation of a child. He faced a combined 821/2 years if convicted of all eight charges.
Given the late hour that the mistrial was declared, Superior Court Judge David Haws ordered Garcia remain held on the $100,000 cash-only bond that had been set.
While the jury could not come to a unanimous decision on six of the charges against Garcia, they did find him not guilty on the remaining two.
A status hearing has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on March 8. The prosecution will likely need to make a final decision by then regarding retrying Garcia on the charges the jury could not reach a verdict on.
The trial began on Feb. 7 and included testimony from all three children, who were under the age of 12. Attorney Richard Parks, of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, represented Garcia.
Having since been terminated, Garcia was employed as a civilian gate guard at Yuma Proving Ground when the alleged abuse had occurred.
He also turned down a plea offer in which he would have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, placed on lifetime probation and required to register as a sex offender.
According to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, investigators responded to Amberly’s Place in July 2021 in reference to a possible sexual abuse case.
While there they interviewed two juvenile victims who disclosed that they had been molested and assaulted on separate occasions.
Afterwards, investigators went to YPG where they spoke to and later arrested Garcia, who also resided on base.