Opening statements are expected to begin in Santa Ana this morning in the trial of Joseph Raymond Garcia, 51, of Irvine, who is accused of forcibly sodomizing three women, two of whom he met online through MillionaireMatch.com.
It is alleged that between March 2005 and October 2006, Garcia met two women through the site billed as “The world's best and largest dating site for successful singles, admirers and friends.” He is accused of creating a personal profile claiming to have an annual income over $200,000 and describing himself as “sophisticated, charming,” and “strikingly handsome.”
With both women, a date was arranged and the couple would go back to his apartment. There, he allegedly forcibly sodomized one of the women and sodomized and raped the second woman. He is also accused of doing the latter with a third woman he met at the post office, where she worked. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 45.
At various times, the assaults were reported to the Irvine Police Department, which investigated and ultimately arrested Garcia.
He is charged with six felony counts of sodomy by force, two felony counts of forcible rape, and faces a sentencing enhancement allegation for forcible sex crimes against multiple victims.
If convicted, Garcia could get up to 120 years to life in state prison.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.