ST. GEORGE —A Washington City man appeared in 5th District Court for sentencing on felony forcible sexual abuse following an investigation last summer.
On March 10, 53-year-old Roderico Armando Garcia-Rodriguez appeared before District Judge John J. Walton to be sentenced on second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, a charge that was reduced from a first-degree felony in exchange for a guilty plea. The state also agreed to dismiss the kidnapping charge under the terms of the plea agreement.
The case stems from an investigation into a sexual assault reported April 28, 2022, when officers in Washington City were dispatched to St. George Regional Hospital following a forensic exam conducted by emergency room staff.
Investigators spoke to the reporting party who said she had gone on a date with a man she identified only as “Roderico.” When the date was over, the man drove her home, according to charging documents filed at the time of the arrest.
After driving her home, Rodriguez reportedly pulled the woman’s jacket down over her arms, pinning them behind her back, and then forced her into the backseat of his vehicle, where he held her down, the report states. He then pulled down her clothes and sexually abused her, despite the woman telling him “no” multiple times, declarations that went unheeded, investigators say. Shortly after, she was allowed to go back to her home.
While speaking to detectives, Rodriguez admitted to going on the date with the woman and provided an account of what transpired after he pulled up to the residence, saying that what took place was consensual. His account was called into question during a review of the forensic exam that revealed bruising to the woman’s arms, legs and neck that was consistent with the reporting party’s account.
On June 2, 2022, Rodriguez was arrested and booked into jail in Washington County. The case was filed, which then initiated a series of motions and hearings that continued for the next nine months while Rodriguez remained in custody. On Oct. 6, 2022, Rodriquez pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony charge. The plea included a statement that included Rodriguez admitting to sexually touching the woman and taking “indecent liberties with the victim.”
On March 10, six months later, Rodriguez was sentenced to serve one year in county jail with credit for time served. Once he has fulfilled his jail sentence, the judge ordered that Rodriguez be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. And in the event he is deported, Judge Walton also ordered that Rodriguez be prohibited from entering or remaining in the United States illegally.
The prison sentence of 1-15 years was suspended in the case.
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