Temecula Valley Man Pleads Guilty To Molesting 15-Year-Old Singer

MURRIETA, CA — A Wildomar man pleaded guilty Monday to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Murrieta girl who desperately wanted to be part of the local music scene.

Michael John Garza, 36, was sentenced to 364 days in jail after his victim, now 16 years old, told a judge in gut-wrenching, graphic detail that the military veteran, music teacher and father of three, lured her to his house, showed her his arsenal of weapons, forced her to have oral sex and raped her.

“I woke up on Labor Day and lifted myself off the green towel that he made me sleep on so that I would not secrete on his bedsheets,” the girl said in court. “On my left was a trusted adult in my community that had committed the unthinkable. Twice.”

Garza, clad in a black pants, shirt and vest with striped sneakers with his long hair pulled into a ponytail, didn’t look up as the girl testified.

The morning after the assault Garza undressed the victim and used a cloth to wash her in the shower, the girl testified.

“Lifting my arms by the wrist and scrubbing my armpit, he told me that it was like bathing his daughters,” the victim told Judge Jerome E. Brock in a silenced courtroom.

The girl’s parents wept as their daughter — who cut her hair short and stopped wearing makeup “to prevent” herself “from being seen as attractive by men” — read from a powerful prepared victim impact statement outlining Garza’s actions. (Read the full statement below)

She told Patch that Garza sent her a Facebook message in September 2017 inviting her to have sushi with other local musicians, but on the night of the gathering took her to his house instead where she was assaulted.

"He went into his room, so I’m just standing there in the living room looking around, trying not to touch anything," she recalled. "There was cat vomit, cat poop and it is just disgusting and I hate it... And he’s like ‘Hey come here real quick’ ... and he's naked.”

Victim Impact Statement Read June 18, 2018 At Michael John Garza's Sentencing Hearing In Murrieta, CA by BanningBeaumontPatch on Scribd

The girl had met Garza at an open mic in June 2017 and he later befriended her on social media, she said. Garza was a member of her voice instructor’s band.

“He used social media to reach out and gain her trust,” the victim’s mom who asked to remain anonymous to protect her daughter’s identity, said. “He continued to correspond and groom her over the next couple months.”

Garza was arrested on Sept. 22, and charged with a dozen felony counts including rape by force, compelling an act of oral copulation by force, sexual penetration with bodily injuries on a minor and sexual penetration with a foreign object, court records show.

He was kicked out of his band immediately but posted $500,000 bail and continued to circle the Temecula Valley music scene, appearing in Mr. Krinkle: A Primus Tribute Project, according to the victim's family and social media posts.

Garza agreed to a year in jail in exchange for pleading guilty to two felony counts of oral copulation on a minor and lewd acts on a child. With good behavior, Garza could be released before the end of the year.

"He’s going to be out by Christmas," the victim's mother said. "He’ll be hanging Christmas lights with his kids."

In the courthouse hallway before the sentencing hearing, Garza laughed and joked about the “good time” he had had an a party the night before.

Garza posted details about the gathering on Facebook, thanking friends for an “epic” and “fitting farewell” at his studio. “Yes, I will unfortunately be away for a while … I’ll see you all sooooooon,” the post said. In a reply to a comment from someone who said “hope all’s OK,” Garza wrote, “It will be brutha. Just gotta handle some shit. I’ll be back!!! I promise.”

The victim’s parents told Patch they weren’t happy with the plea agreement. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case.

“You can steal away somebody else’s precious little girl and do something so heinous, and you can have farewell parties,” the girl’s mother said.. “It’s like we’ve been silenced and hushed out the back door, rushed into this shitty deal."

The victim’s parent said they moved from the area after the girl was assaulted. The girl’s mother said her daughter was treated poorly when rumors swirled about the assault, and there were no news reports about Garza’s arrest.

"This is why girls don’t say anything," the girl said. "There are just so many repercussions for the victim when they come out and tell people [what happened to them]."

The teen said she was forced to sit in silence while Garza “lived a life of normalcy” and she withdrew from her passion of singing because even her voice teacher didn’t want to be associated with her anymore.

In her testimony, the victim told the judge she was “asked not to come back” to the music school she’d attended for three years after she told some fellow students what had happened to her.

“I remember thinking, ‘Why? It’s my story to tell.’ It felt as if the whole community was aiming to silence me,” she said.

Though Garza did not teach the victim at the school and only worked there for a couple of months, the teen felt her musical home had been ripped from her. The school’s owner where Garza taught drum lessons said he was “shocked” and “saddened” to learn of the allegations against Garza, who was fired immediately after his arrest.

Judge Brock called the girl’s testimony “incredibly articulate and compelling."

“Unfortunately when people are victimized by crimes… usually with these cases, especially with these cases, they appear as nothing more than a name on of a piece of paper... but that’s not right,” the judge said.

Judge Brock sentenced Garza to a three-year suspended sentence, five years probation and 364 days in jail. Garza must register as a sex offender for life, enroll in a state-certified sexual offender management program, engage in no unauthorized contact with minors and have no contact with the victim.

He was immediately taken into custody.

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Main image by Renee Schiavone / Booking photo courtesy Riverside County Sheriff's Department