An Indio man who sexually assaulted an underage female relative over a period of several years admitted three felony charges Monday in a plea deal with prosecutors reached after his trial got underway.
The girl testified during the trial that Gregory Galvan Medina, 49, abused her when she was between 7 and 13 years old.
Just as the second day of prosecution testimony in Medina’s trial was getting underway Monday morning, the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of aggregated sexual assault of a child and one count of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years old.
Another victim came forward during the trial to report being sexually abused by the defendant, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Additional information about the new allegations, including whether that underage victim was also related to the victim, was not available.
Medina is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison on April 23 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. A half-dozen other felony charges are slated to be dismissed at sentencing as part of the plea deal with prosecutors.
The defendant would have faced a maximum sentence of 38 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.
The initial victim told authorities Medina began touching her at the age of 7, and by age 11, he began having regular sex with her. The abuse came to light when the girl confided in a male friend on Snapchat in September 2018.
The teen — now 15 years old — was the second witness called by the prosecution last Thursday. She testified that she sent her friend photos of a hickey that she said the defendant gave her, and then begged her friend not to tell anyone.
“He told me he was going to call the police, but I told him not to because I was scared,” the girl testified. “I didn’t want to tear my family apart.”
The boy then told his mother, who called authorities. Indio police showed up at the victim’s house soon after, and she admitted to the abuse, according to the prosecution. The defendant was arrested a few days later.
When confronted by police, Medina admitted to abusing the girl, saying he was “sick in the head” for what he did, according to court papers. “Tell her I’m sorry,” Medina told an investigator.
Medina has felony convictions that include battery on a peace officer, child abuse and embezzlement.
He remains in custody at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning without bail awaiting sentencing.
