A 73-year-old North Platte man has been sentenced to prison for having sex with two teenage girls at an apartment complex.

Francisco Garcia appeared in Lincoln County District Court on Monday for sentencing.

On June 4, North Platte Police opened an investigation into a sexual assault after receiving a complaint from a 12-year-old female, that she and her 13-year-old friend had been sexually assaulted.

Both juveniles were interviewed at separate Child Advocacy Centers, and stated that, on June 3, they had been swimming at the apartment complex located at 221 West Francis.

They say Garcia invited them up to his apartment.  Once in the apartment, the girls said Garcia paid them to perform a sex act and sexually assaulted them.

Garcia was originally charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor, but the charges were reduced to attempted sexual assault of a minor when Garcia entered a no contest plea after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Tanya Roberts-Connick asked Judge Donald Rowlands to sentence Garcia to prison.

Roberts-Connick said the case involved two young girls who will be affected by this act for the rest of their lives.

Garcia’s attorney, Mark McKeone, said his client recognizes that he did wrong and cited his client’s age and health problems when addressing Judge Rowlands.

He said Garcia had been a working member of society for his entire life and had a minimal criminal history.  He also said Garcia was more than willing to participate in programs.

Garcia then addressed the court and stated that he wanted to apologize to the victims and their families, and was willing to accept responsibility for his actions.

It was then Judge Rowlands’ turn to speak.

Judge Rowlands stated that a psychological evaluation, conducted by Dr. Rebecca Schroeder, determined that Garcia was not a pedophile and deemed him a low to moderate risk to reoffend.

However, before handing down the sentence, Rowlands said Garcia’s age and the age of the victims makes the acts something that “can’t be tolerated in a civilized society,” and said they must be punished accordingly.

Rowlands then sentenced Garcia to not less than 10 nor more than 20 years on both counts.  The sentences will run concurrently, and Garcia was credited with 412 days already served in the Lincoln County Detention Center.  The original charges against Garcia carried a sentence of 20-years to life in prison.

Additionally, Garcia must register as a sex offender for 25 years.

After Garcia had been sentenced, Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling addressed the court, saying that she and other attorneys had a conversation with David Saxton.  Saxton was recently sent to prison for second-degree murder after a transient was beaten to death in North Platte.

Harling said statements made by Saxton indicated that Garcia should not be housed near Saxton while in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Sevices.

According to Harling, Saxton said he would “be waiting for Garcia to get there.”

Judge Rowlands asked corrections officers, who were present in court, to notify the NDOC of this situation in writing.

The court was then adjourned, and Garcia was remanded to the custody of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office to await transport to Lincoln.