Chandler dental assistant facing 14 felony counts in child molestation case
Police said videos on an East Valley dental assistant's cellphone have led to multiple felony charges after young patients accused him of groping them.
Deion Alexander Garcia, 27, of Mesa, is charged with 10 felony counts of exploitation of a minor and five felony counts of molestation of a child, according to court documents. The offenses were committed at Garcia's place of employment at Kidiatric Dental & Orthodontics, at West Chandler Heights Road and South Arizona Road in Chandler, according to charging documents.
As of his May 10 arrest at the dentistry's Gilbert location, Garcia was employed at the dentistry for two-and-a-half years, court documents mention.
On the night of May 8, the parents of a 6-year-old girl came forward to Chandler police about their daughter telling them Garcia touched her inappropriately and took photographs of her unclothed while she was getting X-ray scans at the Chandler dentistry, according to court documents.
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On May 9, the girl participated in a forensic interview where she said Garcia was scanning and photographing her teeth before he "started bugging" her and touching her inappropriately, according to court documents. Garcia went on to place his hand under her clothes, snapping photos with his cell phone, according to charging documents.
The girl's parents said Garcia told the mother she needed to wait and give the orthodontist information on the other child she brought in, court documents detailed. Garcia returned with the girl after 15 minutes with the girl acting "differently," documents stated.
Garcia denied to police that he touched the girl, but phone data extraction on Garcia's iPhone found 10 photos of the alleged victim and a second girl, according to charging documents. The images, determined to have been taken by the device and at the location, included the first alleged victim's genitals, documents detailed. One set of images was captured May 8, the day the first girl said she was molested, according to court documents.
The images of the second alleged victim were taken May 9, and records at the dentistry showed the second alleged victim, a 4-year-old, had been there that same day, according to charging documents.
Garcia refused to provide his passcode for his iPhone and forensic data extraction only captured part of the device, charging documents stated. Part of the extraction included sexualized, animated images of children, documents added.
It was unclear whether Garcia remained employed at Kidiatric. A spokesperson for both Chandler and Gilbert locations could not be reached and phone calls were directed to a voicemail stating offices were closed.
Jail records did not show Garcia was being held and bond information was not immediately available.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler dental assistant facing 14 felony counts in child molestation case
