Another Greensboro police employee has been charged and fired for a sex crime. This is the fourth time this year.

It happened again.

On June 23, Miguel Angel Garcia was fired from the Greensboro Police Department after being charged with sex crimes. This is the fourth time this year that a member of the GPD has been fired for sex-related offenses.

According to court documents, Garcia, 24, was charged with one count of second degree forcible sex offense, a felony. Information put out by GPD stated that Garcia had sexually assaulted someone with a mental disability, and that he knew the individual. The incident occurred on May 31.

As is standard protocol, the police department put Garcia on administrative duty on June 8 and began an internal investigation. The findings were presented to the Guilford County District Attorney’s office on June 23 and Garcia was subsequently fired and charged. Garcia’s total bond was set at $575,000 but was increased to $750,000 after his initial court hearing on Monday, according to the News & Record. Reporting by the daily stated that Garcia faces nearly 20 years in prison if he is convicted of the Class C felony. His next court date is scheduled for July 26.

As reported by TCB and other outlets in the past, this is the fourth time this year that a member of the Greensboro police department has been fired and charged for a sex crime.

On Jan. 12, former Greensboro police officer Kenneth Eugene Adams was charged with sexual battery, assault on a female and giving alcohol to an underage person. Eight days later, on Jan. 20, another former Greensboro police officer, Joshua Daniel Oliver, was charged with six counts of statutory sex offense and six counts of indecent liberties with a minor. Then, on Jan. 31, Matthew Hammonds, a former crime analyst with the Greensboro Police Department, was arrested and charged with three counts of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. 

In TCB’s article from March, Dara Purvis, a professor of law and the assistant dean of research and partnership at Penn State Law, articulated how and why the culture of policing can lead to sex crimes.

“Some of the deepest rooted problems are that the police departments embody this sense of dominance,” said Purvis. “This is a way to prove that you have power over the people in your community. And it’s made worse because it becomes part of the job. In the context of sexual assault, sexual violence can become a sign of dominance.”

An investigation by the Associated Press appears to give credence to Purvis’ theory.

From 2009-14, the AP found that 990 officers lost their law enforcement licenses because of sexual assault or other sex-related allegations. Of the 990, 549 of them, or 55 percent, were decertified because of allegations of rape, child molestation and other acts defined as sexual assault by the Deparment of Justice. Forty-four percent lost their licenses for other sex crimes, such as possessing child pornography, as in the instance of Matthew Hammonds.

According to the Cato Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project 2010 Annual Report, “sexual misconduct was the second most common form of misconduct reported throughout 2010.”

What’s the status with the cases now?

According to court records pulled on Monday, most of the charged officers and employees will have court hearings this week.

More details about Garcia’s case emerged during the court hearing on Monday, as reported by the N&R. According to Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Roger Echols, Garcia was working a missing person’s case involving a 32-year-old victim who is a ward of the state and has lived in a group home for most of her adult life. The victim is bipolar and schizophrenic.

Garcia returned to the group home on May 31 and spoke to the alleged victim for an hour, without his supervisor’s knowledge. Later that day, Garcia texted the alleged victim and met with her that night.

While the victim was in Garcia’s patrol car, he asked the victim to perform oral sex on him, which she did, Echols said. Then he asked her to erase all of the texts between them. Garcia’s next court date is July 26.

Kenneth Eugene Adams, who was charged with sexual battery, assault on a female and giving alcohol to an underage person, had a court hearing on Tuesday morning. Adams hired private attorney Joel Oakley. The prosecuting attorney is Thomas Joseph Beattie Cole.

Matthew Sidney Hammonds, who was charged with three counts of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, has a court hearing set for Thursday morning. The prosecuting attorney is Kelly R. Thompson. An attorney was not listed for Hammonds.

The only person who does not have a court date set for the near future is Joshua Daniel Oliver, who was charged with six counts of statutory sex offense and six counts of indecent liberties with a minor. Oliver was indicted on March 6 and had a court hearing on April 10. He was subsequently arraigned but a new court date has yet to be set. Onica Fuller has been named as the prosecuting attorney while Public Defender Wayne Baucino will be representing Oliver.