Former security guard pleads guilty to sexually motivated coercion
A man accused of sexual assault while on duty as an armed security guard in downtown Las Vegas pleaded guilty Friday to one count of sexually motivated coercion.
Jose Dejesus Garcia, 41, appeared in Clark County District Court via video chat and admitted to using “physical force, or the immediate threat of such force” against a victim, dubbed A.A. in court documents.
Garcia’s plea was entered as part of an agreement that says the state would consider probation, given that Garcia has no prior felony or gross misdemeanor convictions and is not deemed a high risk.
Under the terms of the agreement, Garcia can withdraw his plea and plead guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy coercion, a misdemeanor, if he fulfills all the terms and conditions of the probation.
Garcia was originally charged with three counts of sexual assault in November 2019, after two women told police he led them to a stairwell, where he allegedly forced at least one of them to perform a sex act on him.
The other woman secretly recorded the assault on her cellphone, and the video was later collected by Metro detectives as evidence, according to the Metropolitan Police Department report.
The two women came forward with their stories after Metro announced in a news release that Garcia, then 39, had sexually assaulted a woman “after threatening to turn her over to police for suspected prostitution” while working as a security guard at the Four Queens.
He originally faced two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault and two counts of open or gross lewdness in that case.
Las Vegas court records show the charges were dismissed in February 2019.
District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth told Garcia on Friday that while sexually motivated coercion is a probational offense, he could face a minimum of one year in prison and a maximum of six years, as well as a fine up to $5,000.
He is to be sentenced Dec. 16 at 8:30 a.m.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the presiding judge.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.
