A California woman and her son were in court on Monday as a victim testified about being sexually assaulted and tied to a tree in 2016 when she was 13.
Sandra Garcia and her adult son, Mark Anthony Roque, are on trial for an alleged plot that entailed Garcia telling Roque to kidnap and torture her then-boyfriend’s minor daughter. KFSN reported that the victim took the stand and recalled being sexually assaulted with a stick during the February 2016 attack.
The victim’s younger sister, who also testified, claimed their father broke up with Garcia weeks before the attack because of ongoing conflicts between Garcia and the two girls.
The victim’s father is a divorced Swedish-born executive who met Garcia online. Garcia moved in with him after months of dating, but he evicted her from his Clovis home before his daughter’s kidnapping. Prosecutor Adam Christopherson claimed Garcia wanted him all to herself so she devised the kidnapping plot to scare the girls so they wanted to move with their mother in Sweden, according to The Modesto Bee.
The victim’s father was on a business trip in Oregon when four men reportedly took his 13-year-old daughter from their home and drove her to the foothills where they tied her to a tree and sexually assaulted her.
Garcia allegedly planned for the victim to be home alone when the abduction occurred. However, the victim’s younger sister testified that she felt ill that day and informed her father that she was staying home from school. This led Garcia to insist upon accompanying the younger girl to a doctor’s visit so the victim would be home alone, according to The Modesto Bee.
The younger girl reportedly became concerned when she came home and her sister was not there. She testified that Garcia appeared “really calm” and sat on the couch on the phone instead of looking for her. The girl was found later that day and hospitalized.
Garcia and her son face life in prison if convicted. Their trial continues.
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[Featured image: Sandra Garcia, Mark Anthony Roque/Fresno County Sheriff’s Office]
