A former Orange County sheriff’s deputy on Friday was sentenced to 188 years in state prison for molesting a young girl.
Wilbert Dale Garcia, who spent 19 years as a sheriff’s deputy, was convicted earlier this year of 79 criminal counts, including aggravated sexual assault and lewd acts with a victim under 14, Riverside County District Attorney spokesman John Hall said.
Garcia was arrested in April 2009 during a traffic stop in Murrieta. Before his arrest, he was assigned as a patrol deputy in south Orange County.
Authorities did not identify the 9-year-old victim.
Prosecutors say the sexual assaults lasted from October 2002 until June 2004. They have not indicated where Garcia met the girl or where the sexual assaults took place.
Garcia was placed on paid administrative leave immediately after his arrest and is no longer working for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
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