INDIANAPOLIS — A Greenwood man has been found guilty six years after he molested a 10-year-old girl.
In a probable cause affidavit filed in the case against Miguel Espinoza-Garcia, a detective with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said they became aware of the molestation around four years after the event occurred.
The girl told police that she disclosed the molestation after visiting friends. They told the girl that they had also been victims and urged her to tell her mother. The document said the girl told police that “she went to church and made a promise to God to tell her mother about Miguel touching her.”
The document states the girl told them that the molestation happened when she was in 5th grade. Espinoza-Garcia was at the girl’s house. Espinoza-Garcia, the girl, the girl’s sister, and the girl’s mother were lying on the bed sleeping at the time.
The girl said that when she woke up, Espinoza-Garcia was fondling her. She didn’t say anything at the time, but the document said she told Espinoza-Garcia that he couldn’t come into her house anymore a few days later.
The girl’s mother told police that she met Espinoza-Garcia at church. She didn’t have any family or friends when she moved to Indianapolis, so he became like a brother to her. He would always help her when she needed it.
When the girl’s mother first met Espinoza-Garcia, the document said the woman’s daughter had a good relationship with him and the two would play. Shortly after the adults’ relationship became intimate, the girl started acting differently.
At the time, the woman told police that she thought her daughter just didn’t want her to be in a relationship with another man, missing her father. When the girl told her what happened, she was shocked and surprised.
The mother said she believed her daughter, saying she is very intelligent, well-behaved and always tells the truth.
The woman told police that years ago, Espinoza-Garcia told her that he was being investigated for fondling another child but the allegations weren’t true.
On Tuesday, Espinoza-Garcia was convicted of Child Molesting, Battery on a Person Less than 14 years old, and Child Molesting. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 21.
