Prosecutors say principal continuously molested second-graders. He pleads not guilty
A Mendota elementary school principal pleaded not guilty Monday in Fresno Superior Court to four felony charges of continuous sex abuse of a child involving four victims.
After his plea, Richard Garcia, 49, was allowed to remain free on $480,00 bail. His next hearing is Nov. 7.
A criminal complaint accuses Garcia of committing the crimes while he was a second-grade teacher at Washington Elementary School from Aug. 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. He since had been promoted to principal at McCabe Elementary School.
Since his arrest Oct. 17, Garcia has been on paid administrative leave, Mendota Unified superintendent Paul Lopez said.
Court records say the Mendota Police Department began investigating Garcia on June 4 when a girl told them that Garcia had allegedly molested her in the classroom when she was in the second grade. The girl estimated that Garcia had touched her inappropriately about 10 different times during the school year, according to an affidavit by Sgt. Frank Renteria.
In a police interview, the girl said she initially didn’t tell anyone what happened “because she did not want to get in trouble,” the affidavit says. “She wanted to tell what happened to her now because she did not think it was fair that her father went to jail for doing the same thing as Mr. Garcia.”
Because her father had molested her, the affidavit says, the girl was seeing a psychologist, who reported to police and Child Protective Services what the child had told her about Garcia.
The girl’s comments, as well as the psychologist’s statements, led police to the other alleged victims, the affidavit says.
One of them told police that Garcia also allegedly molested her when she was in the second grade. She said she also saw him touching other students inappropriately. “(The girl) stated she does not like Mr. Garcia because of what he did to her and the other female students,” the affidavit says.
This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 2:58 PM.