Arizona dental assistant sentenced to 40 years for sexually abusing patients

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Deion Garcia, a former dental assistant at Kidiatric Dental & Orthodontics in Chandler, Ariz., has been sentenced to 40 years in prison and lifetime supervised probation for sexually abusing three pediatric patients.

Mr. Garcia was charged in 2024 with sexual exploitation and molestation of three patients, all of whom were under 10 years old. He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted molestation of a child, one count of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced July 17.

The practice’s owner, Walter Villanueva, DDS, was separately indicted in May on charges of failing to report the abuse of a pediatric patient after allegedly learning of an incident in 2022.

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