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 AJ Man Charged With 26
Counts Of Sexual Abuse
Female victims range from 8 to 15 years
of age
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- An Apache
Junction man already incarcerated
in the Pinal County Detention Center
and awaiting trial on 11 felony
sexual abuse and molestation
charges was charged with an additional
26 counts of felony sexual
abuse and molestation on August
24, 2007.
Jeremy Dean Garcia, 36, already
charged with 11 counts of sexual
abuse and molestation from August,
2006, is accused of the alleged
molestation of four girls, ranging
in age from 8 to 15, at his home in
the 1900 block of South Plaza Dr.
Two of the girls were reportedly
family members, one was a friend of one
of the victims and the other
was reportedly a 15-year-old
babysitter, who later allegedly bore
a child by Garcia.
According to Apache Junction
Police (AJPD) Detective Jim Trout,
the alleged molestations occurred
over a period of approximately two
or three years and the AJPD has
been investigating Garcia since
2005.
See
A-1
 Employee Who Alleged
Abuse Leaves City Job
Employee’s claims dismissed by EEOC
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- An Apache
Junction Police Department (AJPD)
employee who leveled charges of
sexual harassment against the department
has reportedly left her job
with the city.
Jenny Lewis, 39, filed an EEOC
(Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission) complaint in July,
claiming she was sexually harassed
and retaliated against by Police
Chief Glenn Walp and Commander
Jay Swart. She also complained she
was assaulted by a fellow employee.
Lewis’ attorney sent a letter to the
city on July 12, 2007 demanding a
lump sum payment of $300,000 in
damages in lieu of a possible
multimillion
dollar law suit. After investigations
by the EEOC, the Pinal
County Sheriff’s Department,
AJPD Internal Investigation and an
independent outside legal firm, the EEOC
dismissed Ms. Lewis’
claims.
Apache Junction Director of Human
Resources Liz Riley responded
to inquiries by the News,
saying, “In response to your
questions regarding Ms. Lewis,
the city is not commenting on this
personnel issue.”
See
A-1
 Rankin Attends VFW
Convention
Leads state delegation of VFW Ladies
Auxiliary
Debbie Rankin of Apache Junction,
president of Superstition Mountain
#9399, led the state delegation of the
Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW) at the 94th National
Convention held August 18-23 at the
Bartle Hall Convention Center in
Kansas City, Missouri.
As a leading representative
of the state, she voiced the delegates’
votes during the election of National Officers at the session and
played a key role in deciding the
direction of the National Organization for 2007-2008.
Presiding over the convention,
National President Linda K.
Meader lauded the 3,500 attendees
for achieving so much for veterans and their communities this year.
She thanked members for volunteering 1.4
million hours in the nation’s hospitals,
raising $2,980,620 for the
organization’s Cancer Aid and Research
Fund, and donating $284,723 for Operation Uplink to provide long-distance telephone cards to troops
and hospitalized veterans.
See
A-1
Prospector Miscues Add
Up To 21-15 Loss
 Four fumbles, 12 penalties just the
start in heart-breaking loss to Agua
Fria
By Chuck Baker
The News
From the opening kickoff to their
final play on offense, mistakes did
in the Prospector varsity football
team last Friday in a 21-15 loss to
Agua Fria played in Avondale. The
loss evens Apache Junction’s
record at 1-1 with the team’s first
home game of the season coming
up this Friday, September 7 versus
Raymond Kellis at Davis Field.
After winning the coin toss and
deferring to the second half,
Apache Junction kicked off and
looked to have Agua Fria’s speedy
Derrick Ross pinned in at about
the twenty-yard line. But Ross
somehow managed to squeeze
through a log jam and break free
for a 92-yard touchdown, giving
the Owls a quick 7-0 lead just nineteen
seconds into the game.
Later on, with just over twenty
seconds to play in the fourth quarter,
Apache Junction, now trailing
21-15, had the ball inside the Agua
Fria five-yard line and was facing
a third-and-inches when junior fullback
Justin Ferman fumbled. The
Owls pounced on the loose ball
and needed to run just one play to
expire the game clock and escape
with a six-point win.
See
C-1
and see Football
C-3
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