Special Report: Victim speaks out after Las Cruces detective convicted in rape

A former Las Cruces Police detective will serve nine years in prison for raping a teenage intern. For the first time, the victim, Diana Guerrero is speaking out.

Diana Guerrero was only 17-years old when she was sexually assaulted by Michael Garcia, a 14-year veteran in the Las Cruces Police department.

After the assault, Guerrero says she was depressed and bitter. Now, she says justice has prevailed.

“I was able to see Michael Garcia get sentenced today. It was a very uplifting moment,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero waited three and a half years for justice.

“It’s kind of like this really uplifting, really whole dark cloud just blew away,” Guerrero said.

Diana was only 13-years old when she began an internship at the Las Cruces Police department. She dreamt of one day joining the force.

“I was ready to become a police officer. I was ready to heal the world. I thought I was a superhero,” Guerrero said.

That all changed in May 2011.

When Guerrero was a 17-year old Mayfield High School student, she went on a “ride-along” with former detective Michael Garcia, to a crime scene.

Garcia was supposed to take Guerrero back to school in his unmarked car. Instead, he took her to a secluded area and raped her. Diana told a judge she learned Garcia is HIV positive. According to a report by KOB-TV, Diana was tested and tested negative.

Guerrero didn’t say a word about the attack and never went on a “ride-along” ever again.

“I thought it was me, I thought it was my fault. I thought I did something wrong. I thought, it’s your fault. You agreed to go on ride-alongs that day, it’s your fault. You put yourself in that position. You allowed yourself to love something that much, you put your guard down, and you wouldn’t put your guard down with a police officer, right? But I did. I put my trust in his hands,” Guerrero said.

She says she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

Diana says she was angry and bitter at the world.

“I could not comprehend. Why me? What did I do so wrong? I did everything right. I had good grades, I was a good kid, all I wanted to do was help people. I knew one day I was going to do it. All of a sudden it happened to me,” Guerrero said.

In 2013, Guerrero ran into a detective she had interned with. The detective asked why Gerrero had stopped interning.

“I just blurted it out and once I blurted it out, I literally felt like I was going to throw up. I could not catch my breath, I could not realize what I just said. I did not want to go through with it,” Guerrero said.

A swift criminal investigation followed. Michael Garcia admitted to the allegations, was arrested and charged with criminal sexual penetration and criminal sexual contact.

Last week, Garcia was finally sentenced to nine years in prison.
Justice was served.

“I was taking care of his secret and I decided that it was not going to happen anymore,” Guerrero said.

Coming forward was the hardest decision of her life, she says and wants other sexual assault victims to know they’re not alone.

“You always feel like it’s your fault, there’s no need to hold it in,” Guerrero said.

She now wants to pursue a career in nutrition. She’s ready to close this painful chapter, and move on.

“I have to deal with this for the rest of my life, but the hard part is over. You get to move on, you get to breathe,” Guerrero said.

It’s ordinarily Abc-7’s policy not to report the name of rape victims. We’re using Guerrero’s because she wanted to share her story about the obstacles she’s overcome.

In July, Garcia pleaded guilty to molesting a young girl between 2004 and 2009. He has not been sentenced yet.