CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man connected to a violent sexual assault at an apartment complex in Mint Hill pleaded guilty Friday.
Eduardo Garcia, 17, entered a guilty plea to aiding and abetting first-degree rape. Officials said he videotaped with his cellphone while others gang raped an unconscious 17-year-old in November 2015 at the Victoria Park Apartments.
A search warrant revealed that officers found the girl unresponsive with bruising all over her body. They said the victim was also covered in feces.
A judge sentenced Garcia to 7 to 10 years in prison for his role in the crime. He will not have to register as a sex offender if he upholds other conditions of the plea agreement, which include testifying against the other defendants if they go to trial. If he doesn’t uphold the plea deal, the maximum sentence would be 44 years in prison.
Garcia was one of five teenagers arrested in the case. Jhovany Roman, Felix Reyes and two juveniles, who police said were 15 at the time of the assault, are charged with one count of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sex offense, one count of assault by strangulation inflicting physical injury and three counts of felony conspiracy.
Prosecutors also said in court that it was Roman who convinced the other three boys to skip school the day of the alleged assault, and drank tequila beforehand.
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