A/C man jailed for 12yrs for ‘depraved’ sex crimes

| 31/08/2016 | 47 Comments

(CNS): A Colombian national who was working as an air-conditioning technician when he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old child, raped a teenage girl and collected over a 1,000 pornographic images of children was jailed for twelve years Wednesday. Justice Micheal Mettyear described 26-year-old Michell Anderson Garcia’s conduct as “despicable and depraved”, as he handed down a complex series of sentences for the multiple offences, which amounted to an 18-year term reduced by 33% because of Garcia’s early guilty pleas to all of the crimes.

As crown prosecutor Eleanor Fargin set out the details of his offending, the court heard that Garcia came to Cayman in 2008, when he was just 18, to live with his aunt. He began working for his aunt’s husband in a local air-conditioning company, Air Care Ltd, and for several years appeared to live a crime-free life.

But in September 2015 Garcia was called to a family home to do some repair work on an A/C unit. While there, although adults and family members were present, a curious 5-year-old girl who was playing in her room next to where Garcia was working peeked in to see what he was doing. In a matter of ten minutes, by disguising it as play, he was able to persuade the girl to take off her clothes, sexually assaulted her and then took a number of indecent images.

But the little girl immediately reported the indecent acts to her nanny and mother, who reacted quickly and bravely, the judge said, by calling the police and blocking Garcia’s van with her own car.

Justice Mettyear described the indecent assault as a “gross breach of trust”, where he took advantage of and indecently assaulted a lively and inquisitive child who had innocently looked in to see what he was doing “to satisfy his own sexually deviant lust”. He said Garcia’s “depraved conduct” was “every parent’s nightmare”.

Having been caught in the act of a serious sex crime, Garcia was arrested, but then the police discovered even more serious sexual offences.

After seizing his phone they found not only the images he took of the child that day but around a thousand more pornographic images and videos, as well as evidence that he had also shared that imagery. But even more disturbing, the police found pictures that appeared to show Garcia sexually assaulting and raping a local teenage girl while she was unconscious.

The police were able to identify and track down the girl, who was unaware that Garcia, whom she believed to be a friend, had raped and indecently assaulted her on at least two occasions and had taken pictures and video.

The police discovered that the girl was still only fifteen years old at the time, though Garcia had said he believed she was sixteen. This had been accepted by prosecutors in order to avoid a trial as the girl was just a few weeks short of her sixteenth birthday.

Regardless of her age, the teenager made it clear that she had never consented to sex. Although she had been close friends with Garcia as they were neighbours and she said she had even kissed him on occasions, she had refused further sexual advances.

As a result of the phone times and investigations, the police were able to establish that Garcia had raped the girl and indecently assault her on two occasions in December 2014 after they had been out to a George Town bar with other friends, while Garcia’s aunt and her husband were on vacation and he was house-sitting for them.

The teenager said that she had no memory of what happened and it was not clear if she was so drunk she had passed out or she had been drugged “into oblivion”, the judge said. He added that Garcia had made matters worse by taking images of his “despicable behavior” with the girl, who had said in a victim impact statement that she felt betrayed and ashamed.

Justice Mettyear said the young girl had nothing to be ashamed about, as he stressed the serious nature of the offences Garcia had committed against her.

Despite the gravity of the crimes and the multiple offences, the judge said he had to consider the totality of the sentence, as he handed down a series of shorter terms for the possession and distribution of images as well as the indecent assaults. But arriving at a total sentence of 18 years, he cut that to twelve as a result of Garcia’s admissions and the fact he had prevented the need for a trial.

The judge noted the revelations in Garcia’s social enquiry report, which had described a “miserable and unhealthy life” in Colombia at the hands of his violent and abusive father. As well as suffering physical and sexual abuse, the court heard that Garcia was introduced to pornography when he was just a child as his father had believed he was gay. When he learned that his son was still not sexually active at 17 years old, he forced him to have sex with a prostitute.

However, despite the abuse Garcia had suffered, the judge said there was no justification for his offending. The social enquiry report also revealed that Garcia admitted being addicted to pornography and that he was believed to be at high risk of re-offending.

Already on remand at HMP Northward, Garcia told the court through his defence attorney that he was deeply ashamed of what he had done and has been struggling to write to his victims to express his remorse after taking part in a restorative justice programme in the prison.

The court also heard that Garcia will be automatically deported after he has served his sentence.

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Comments (47)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Can we pause for a minute and give a round of applause to the nanny and the aunt and even bestow some kind of honour to that little girl. 5 years old and she was brave. Very brave. As someone who works with victims of sexual assault, it is refreshing to see a child stand up and point a finger and say, you did this to me. It is even more heartening to see folks take a stand. They blocked his vehicle, and called the police. I can imagine that the situation at that time must have been frightening for everyone concerned but how brave of these 3 women. I have tears in my eyes just thinking to myself how many older girls and women become afraid or if people tell other women, don’t do anything because no one will believe you. Can we also talk about the parents who must have taught their child that if anyone touches you on your private parts, you should come and tell an adult. I wish I knew these people because no doubt they deserve praise for acting so fiercely in this situation. Well done.

  2. Anonymous says:

    If that was my 5 year daughter I wouldn’t call the police, I would call the Hearst for him… Scumbag

  3. Little Voice says:

    Sad. … the sexual demon of lust is real folks. I understand that most pornographic videos and images around the world is taken by victims, and appear to be submissive on the videos when they are not. The sex-demon industry is so large that it tops the most searched for internet sites. Child pornagraphy is also reducing children to mere sex objects … even babies.

    Garcia is no doubt a victim himself. But with his god-given free will, he bears responsibility for the wrongs he did to others. You see … you always have the free will to suppress your desires and channel them the right way. Bad karma follows those who don’t want to channel it the right way, and want to make “self” into their god.

    Peace

  4. Anonymous says:

    Have not seen one comment yet about where he is from, surely someone is going to say he is related to someone in West Bay of Jamaican origin and that he is definitely not Caymanian and so on. No racism whatsoever to the foreign convicted rapist. Amazing.

  5. JAY says:

    once again: No background checks, no finger print scanner, no follow ups on an individual. Just grab a work permit and start somewhere. do you even know if he is a certified A/C Tech. ???? oh I forgot yall don’t check that either lol too bad

    • Anonymous says:

      For God’s sake, shut up. How do you know what happened when he was hired. Know what you’re talking about before opening your mouth please. You sound like an imbecile.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Oh death penalty and government sanctioned torture for these creeps…where art thou???!!

  7. Hypocrisy of the Puppets says:

    PPM going Down yo!!!! they have done absolutely zero for Cayman and when they did do something it was for the sole benefit themselves and their sic little political minions who they have protected from corruption and criminal investigations. Oh almost forgot they have increased work permits 100% Garcia is only one of many that found refuge here thanks to our good governance good for nothing political termites.

  8. Sharkey says:

    I know that the Judge gave the appropriate sentence and applaud him for it , and wish that all Judges see the need to give these kind of disrespectful scumbags harsh sentences . Then I think that the parents should civilly teach employer’s to properly screen their employees to know that they can be TRUSTED in people homes and around their CHILDREN .

  9. Anonymous says:

    Any concern at all that a 15 yo can go to a bar. I mean God bless bars and all but 15 seems a little young.

    • Anonymous says:

      God bless bars? What? Really?

    • Just saying says:

      Onreported..unreported..god bless bars..columbian national…….etc.
      What is wrong with you people????

      Anyway, stop with the nationality rhetoric for once. Every opportunity is taken to bash nationalities and the especially to bash Caymanians. STOP FOR ONCE. THIS IS A SERIOUS CRIME AGAINST CHILDREN.

      This is a serious crime against innocent little girls that will affect their whole life. There is no room for stupidity.

      This youngman is a danger to any society and it’s good that he can be sent back to Columbia where he will either reform or be butchered like the animal he is. If he had done this in Columbia to a Columbian child he would not have had his day in court.

      The parents and family would have given him a horrible death, case closed.

  10. Anonymous says:

    At 17 I could afford my own prostitutes.

  11. Anonymous says:

    What an incredible family to act so quickly and so strongly by blocking his car.

  12. StopTheCrime says:

    Add this incident to the list of Cayman’s problems which WON’T be discussed at the upcoming “bash gays” conference lead by 3 religious leaders.

    • Anonymous says:

      At the very least when they are caught and convicted they go to prison – are you suggesting the same justice be applied . You gay people and gay sympathers always bring every incident back to yourselves, then when you get a little push back you cry foul. If some of you would stop drawing undue attention life would be better for yourselves. Some of you are indignant in your practices and some of us will always be indignant against it. So there you go. Try to focus on something else sometime and don’t feel that everything must revolve around yourselves. This is an unfortunate dispictable act of violence and the perpetrator has gotten his comeuppance, sympathize with the families of the offended but don’t try to insert yourself into the discussion. The churches always speak out about these acts, if you would attend one you would be informed of what they speak out on. For your information the upcoming conference will speak out against all immoral acts including rape. It is not just anout you and your interest.

      • Anonymous says:

        Isn’t a little push back what they are looking for?!?!

        But really- it IS topical because a US lawyer and child abuse businessman is visiting soon to tell us about family values. He has spent a career trying to get these crimes covered up and get rid of any oversight for people looking after children if they say that they are a baptist organisation. He should be run out of town with Alson

      • Anonymous says:

        Well said. Some folks just can’t stop focusing on their own agendas. To try and draw some kind of a parallel between this disgusting case and an upcoming conference they object to is clearly outrageous.

  13. Rightyaso says:

    How hearbreakingly tragic. For all involved.

  14. Anonymous says:

    This idea of sex offenders being in contact with their victims as part of the restorative programme is disturbing at best. The prison needs to recognize it’s not appropriate for every type of offense. Why is he allowed to write to his victims? Come on HMP!!

    CNS Note: They are not. The restorative justice programme allows prisoners to hear from volunteer victims of similar crimes not their actual victims. Research suggests that it is one of the most successful rehabilitation programmes around when it comes to addressing recidivism.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Unfortunately only a small fraction of child sexual abuse cases ever get to court here, as nearly all of them involve family members of mostly local families and there is a reluctance to prosecute. This only encourages the proliferation of this despicable crime.

    • Anonymous says:

      How do you know that most are local families if they are not being reported? Obviously (without any proof) you trying to say that foreign families are less likely to be victims of rape or indecent assault, or that they are not likely to commit these acts. You are a very bigoted and mean spirited person.

    • Anonymous says:

      How do you know?

    • anon says:

      I can also say anything that I want without evidence to support it.

    • Anonymous says:

      Unfortunately, its everywhere in this world. Says a lot about the human species. As I recalled from my college days, like domestic violence, this disgusting act goes on reported.

      So it’s not just ‘here’ but everywhere.

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