A former Las Cruces Police detective who was arrested Aug. 23 for sexually assaulting a minor Now faces eight additional counts related to sexually assaulting another young girl.
Michael Garcia, 37, a former detective with the Las Cruces Police Department, was arrested on the new charges Wednesday afternoon.The new charges include three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.
Three of the criminal sexual contact charges are second degree felonies while the remaining five counts are fourth-degree felonies. Bond for Garcia was set at $50,000.
Garcia was originally arrested on August 23rd, and was then charged with one count of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, a fourth-degree felony, and one second-degree felony count of criminal sexual contact of a minor.
The Las Cruces Police Department learned of the original allegations against Garcia the week of Aug. 18 and began an investigation immediately. The girl was believed to be 17 years old at the time of the incident and met Garcia through his work with LCPD.
The new charges are related to incidents involved a young girl Garcia knew for several years and outside his employment with LCPD. The girl was believed to be 10 or 11 years old when the sexual contact began and lasted through most of the girl’s high school years.
The relationship between Garcia and the girl is not being disclosed to protect her identity. Garcia, a 15 year veteran of LCPD, was arrested Aug. 23 on the original charges. Garcia was immediately placed on administrative leave but resigned his position on Aug. 27.
Information From: Las Cruces Police Department.