A Mississippi-based U.S. Navy senior chief is facing court-marital over allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman and threatened to distribute nude photos on social media, among other alleged crimes, according to charge sheets.
Prosecutors allege Senior Chief Construction Mechanic Luis H. Garcia sexually assaulted the woman in Guam on Sept. 16, 2018. The woman’s name is redacted in the charge sheet copy provided to Navy Times.
Garcia is also charged on the same date for violating the Navy’s sexual harassment policy when he allegedly kissed the neck of an individual whose name is redacted on the charge sheet and said, “let me see it (expletive)” to the individual.
Names of alleged victims are redacted throughout the charge sheet copy provided to Navy Times, so it remains unclear how many individuals accused Garcia of wrongdoing.
Garcia’s military attorney, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Collett, declined to comment.
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Assigned to the Seventh Naval Construction Regiment in Gulfport, Mississippi, the senior chief also faces a charge for threatening to distribute nude photographs of a woman on social media in September, according to charge sheets.
He is also charged with disobeying a senior officer when he communicated with “a named protected person in a Military Protective Order” in September and October, after a superior officer told him not to communicate with the individual, according to his charge sheet.
Garcia is also charged with calling his superior officer a “dick” on Oct. 1, charge sheets show.
Prosecutors further allege that Garcia left his unit without permission on Sept. 27 and was apprehended on Oct. 9.
His trial was slated for earlier this month but a military judge ordered a continuance and the trial is now scheduled to begin in late August, according to Navy Region Southeast spokesman Stephen Strickland.
A Texas native, Garcia’s awards and decorations include the combat action ribbon, according to his service record.
He also has qualifications for enlisted seabee combat warfare specialist, enlisted naval parachutist and enlisted expeditionary warfare specialist.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
