According to KTLA 5, an arrest has been made in a case of sexual battery that occurred in the bathroom of a movie theater in Thousand Oaks. Hector Garcia, 18, was arrested on the charge of attacking a woman in the restroom stall on May 23, 2014.
The 23 year old victim reported that Garcia slid underneath the partition of the stall and sexually battered her. After a brief struggle, she managed to get away and her attacker fled the theater.
Police were seeking a man who was seen in surveillance video getting into the passenger seat of a black sedan during the night of the attack under the presumption that he was the man who committed the sexual battery. Due to media coverage, a number of people identified Garcia as a possible suspect. Police also stated that further evidence was found linking him to the crime.
Garcia was arrested on June 10, 2014 and was booked on the charge of sexual battery by restraint and false imprisonment by violence. His bail was set at $250,000. There is no word on the identity of a second man who was thought to be a person of interest.
Under California's penal code section 243.4, sexual battery is defined as the touching of another person's intimate parts for the purposes of gratification, arousal, and/or abuse. Sexual battery can either be a misdemeanor or a felony. It becomes a felony if the victim was unlawfully restrained, was deceived into believing the unlawful touching was part of a therapy or medical treatment, was medicated to incapacity, or was forced to masturbate. The penalty for felony sexual battery can range from two to four years in prison, an up to $10,000 fine, and registration as a sex offender.
If you or a loved one has been arrested for sexual battery in Temecula, Murrieta, Hemet, San Jacinto, Lake Elsinore, Corona or Riverside, contact us for a free consultation. Our office is located near the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, CA. We are familiar with the local courts, judges and prosecutors. We can help!