Inver Grove Heights man charged with sexually abusing girl

A 38-year-old Inver Grove Heights man has been charged with sexual abuse after a 14-year-old girl talked to a school counselor about it.

Gesvin Rene Estrada Garcia was charged in Dakota County with second-degree criminal sexual conduct after police and a county social worker were called Monday to an Inver Grove Heights middle school. The girl told the counselor that she has been cutting herself since she was 12 years old because she was upset by the abuse.

According to the complaint, the girl said the abuse occurred over two months when she was 11 or 12 years old while her mother was at work. She said she would watch movies in her mother's bedroom and that Garcia, who had known the girl since she was 7, would stay in the room with her. She told officers that at least six times she woke up to find Garcia touching her under her clothing.

The girl reported the abuse to the school counselor after a friend she confided in told her she needed to talk to an adult. The classmate told authorities that he noticed something seemed to be wrong with the girl the past few years and was concerned because she was posting suicidal comments on social media.

Garcia acknowledged that he watched movies with the girl in the bedroom but denied sexually abusing her.

He's being held in Dakota County jail.

Mary Lynn Smith