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19-year-old New Mexico man arrested for having sex with 13-year-old Gilbert girl, docs say

He met the girl on Xbox Live and her mother caught them at a hotel.
Credit: MCSO

GILBERT, Ariz. - A 19-year-old New Mexico man was arrested in Gilbert for having sexual conduct with a 13-year-old girl that he met on Xbox Live, according to court documents.

Sammy Lee Garcia has been charged with 12 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. 

Court documents say the mother of a 13-year-old Gilbert girl called the Gilbert Police Department after finding out Garcia traveled from New Mexico to have sexual conduct with her daughter on Nov. 1 at the Best Western Legacy Suites on Power Road in Mesa. 

The mother confronted Garcia and he admitted to her he engaged in sexual conduct with the 13-year-old victim. The girl also admitted to having sexual conduct with Garcia, court documents say.

The victim was interviewed by police and disclosed she had sexual intercourse with Garcia two separate times at the hotel and a search warrant was served on the room where police collected physical evidence of sexual conduct as well as surveillance footage from the hotel, court documents say.

According to court documents, the victim also told police of at least nine different instances of sexual conduct between her and Garcia that occurred in the victim's bedroom at her Gilbert home. 

The victim also told police Garcia gave her THC chocolates two different times, according to court documents.

The victim told police she met Garcia online via Xbox Live, the online communication system on the Xbox game console. She knew Garcia was 19 and Garcia knew she was only 13, court documents say.

Garcia admitted to knowingly and intentionally engaging in sexual conduct with the underage victim. Garcia understood his actions were against the law, but did not believe they were morally wrong, court documents say.

Garcia admitted to driving to Gilbert from New Mexico with the intention of having sexual conduct with the 13-year-old and admitted to sneaking into her house and using the hotel room, court documents say.

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