Garcia
A Franklin man is accused of molesting a child and confessing to his actions in a letter he sent to his supervisor.
Eduardo Garcia, 58, is charged with child molesting as a Level 1 Felony. A Level 1 Felony is the highest possible charge other than murder.
Whiteland police first began investigating Garcia after a woman came forward in October 2021 alleging he had molested a child. The woman told police Garcia had asked them if they could resolve the situation in a “Christian manner.” She refused, asking him to leave the area and he did, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Johnson County Superior Court 2 on Aug. 7.
Garcia later allegedly told the woman that he never had sexual intercourse with the child, but they did “other things,” the affidavit says.
The child told detectives that Garcia had been touching them inappropriately for over a year. In a later interview, the child disclosed sexual acts Garcia had with them over a 2.5-year period, according to the affidavit.
At some point during the investigation, Whiteland police received a copy of an email Garcia sent to his supervisor at an unnamed Veteran’s Affairs hospital. In the email, Garcia reportedly confessed to molesting the child, the affidavit shows.
Though unnamed in the affidavit, the VA hospital is the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis. Garcia is a former employee of the facility and left at the end of 2021, spokesperson Mark Turney said via email Friday.
Garcia allegedly said in the letter that he had sinned and had “sinned beyond evil. I apologize to everyone this will affect, but I have no excuse.” He goes on to say he hadn’t been intimate with someone in a while and was “sexually frustrated,” which he says wasn’t an excuse for his behavior “but an explanation as to where (his) mindset was.”
Later in the email, he says he never meant to harm anyone and thought of it as more of a “sex education thing.” Garcia later says he’s not a predator, but that the child came to him and he sinned “in weakness,” the affidavit shows.
He also asked the letter to not be shared with anyone except for his supervisor’s superiors, the affidavit shows.
Investigators were later contacted by a minister about Garcia, who had sent a couple of ministers a graphic email about his actions. The letter was very similar to the letter sent to the VA hospital, according to the affidavit.
Prior to learning this information, detectives tried to contact Garcia about the case. Garcia said he wanted to talk, but declined on the advice of his attorney, according to the affidavit.
Non-emergency help dealing with sexual assault resources is available at Franklin-based ASSIST Indiana at 317-739-4456. For a complete list of resources from the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, visit icesaht.org/get-help/. For emergency help dealing with sexual assault call or text 911 to report the crime.
