South Lake Tahoe man sentenced to 26 years in prison for multiple counts of child molestation

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A South Lake Tahoe man who was found guilty on four counts of felony child molestation has been sentenced to 26 years in state prison.

A jury found John Robert Garcia, 45, guilty back in December 2019 and he was scheduled to be sentenced in April. Due to social distancing requirements and COVID-19, that was held off until June 26. Judge Dylan Sullivan conducted the sentencing utilizing remote video conferencing.

Garcia is currently in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe awaiting transfer to prison.

Over the course of about eight years, John Garcia preyed upon his young victim, sexually molesting them on numerous occasions. The molestation started when the child was only five years old and continued until the child was thirteen years old. John Garcia was in a position of trust with the child’s family.

Eventually, the victim gathered the courage to come forward and disclosed the years of abuse.

On December 23, 2019, an El Dorado County jury found Garcia guilty of one count of Penal Code Section 288.5, continuous sexual abuse, two counts of Penal Code Section 288(a), lewd act on a child under age 14, and one count of Penal Code Section 288(b)(1), forcible lewd act on a child.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jesse Wilson of the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office and investigated by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and Investigators with the District Attorney’s Office. Detective Justin Brock of the SLTPD was the lead investigator.