Rothbury man sent to prison for molesting 12-year-old girl

Senovio Garcia, Jr., at left, with his attorney, Timothy Hayes.

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

HART — A 47-year-old Rothbury man was sentenced to 43 months to 15 years in a Michigan Department of Corrections prison Monday, March 16, for molesting a 12-year-old girl, and the victim’s mother referred to him as a “monster” and “the work of satan.”

Senovio Garcia, Jr., pleaded no contest last month in 27th Circuit Court to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC). He was initially facing two counts of first-degree CSC and two counts of second-degree CSC. The other three counts were dismissed in a plea deal.

Oceana County Prosecutor Joe Bizon said the alleged molestations occurred over a period of time. The maximum penalty for first-degree CSC, which involves penetration, is life in prison. The maximum sentence for second-degree CSC, which involves sexual contact, is 15 years in prison. Bizon said the plea agreement was made “to spare the victim of going through a trial.”

Garcia was free on a $50,000 cash/surety bond up until Monday’s sentencing.

In a gut-wrenching court proceeding Monday, both the victim and the victim’s mother addressed the court.

“He stole my childhood and my trust in people,” stated the victim as she wept. “If he goes to prison for a long time, he won’t be able to hurt me anymore. People in prison will know what he did, and I hope he gets what he did to me, too.”

“This is a very traumatic experience for my daughter, and she will experience this for the rest of her life,” the mother said. “We have endured sleepless nights because of what she went through.” Since Garcia has been out on bond, the mother said the victim has lived in fear of him hurting her again or killing her. “He told her she’d be found floating in a river some day.”

The mother described Garcia as “mean and horrible” and a “wicked man.”

“You have stolen an innocent girl’s purity, which also makes you a thief,” the mother said to Garcia. “This is a mother’s worst nightmare. My world is shattered, and this came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. It eats away at your insides and kills you slowly. What did she ever do to deserve this?”

When asked by Judge Anthony Monton if he had anything to say to the court, Garcia declined comment.

“The court has much sympathy for the victim in this case,” Monton said. Although he sent Garcia to prison, it will not “correct the harm that was done,” which he described as “damage that is virtually incalculable to a young lady.”

Garcia was given credit for eight days served in the county jail, and he was also ordered to pay $198 in fines and costs.