A former Monroe volunteer firefighter accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl in the city’s junior firefighter program has been acquitted of all charges.
Carlos Garcia, 31, wept silently at the defense table shortly after noon on Wednesday as Benton County Circuit Court Judge Locke Williams read the jury’s decision: not guilty on all three counts. Garcia’s wife, sitting in the gallery, collapsed sobbing as the verdict was announced.
Garcia had been charged with one count of second-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of third-degree sexual abuse. He could have faced up to five years in prison on the felony charge.
The charges stemmed from two incidents alleged to have occurred in early 2016, when the two were alone after hours at the Monroe fire station.