Former YPG civilian gate guard won’t face new trial
The Yuma County Attorney’s Office filed a motion on Friday indicating that it will not retry the case against a man accused of sexually abusing three female juveniles while employed as a civilian gate guard at Yuma Proving Ground.
In the motion, prosecutors asked the court to dismiss without prejudice the case against Roberto Garcia and to exonerate any bond in the case.
The reason given is that there is, “insufficient evidence and no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
Because the case was dismissed without prejudice, the prosecution can still refile charges at a later time.
Yuma County Superior Court Judge David Haws declared a mistrial on Feb. 23 after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on six of the charges against Garcia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Afterward, investigators went to YPG where they spoke to and later arrested Garcia, who also resided on base.