After a year and a half, Alfredo Felan-Garza (38) finally appeared for sentencing in the Tenth Judicial District Court before Judge Thomas Stockard. After pleading guilty to multiple criminal charges related to sexually luring a minor, child pornography, and possessing weapons illegally, Felan-Garza will take residence at the Nevada Department of Corrections and inhabit the inside of a prison cell for a minimum of seven years and a maximum of over 17.
On August 7, 2020, Felan-Garza was arrested and later arraigned in New River Township Justice Court by Judge Benjamin Trotter. According to the criminal complaint, on or about January 14, 2020, Felan-Garza attempted to distribute a video of an unknown pre-pubescent female. He was accused of preparing, advertising, or distributing material depicting pornography involving a minor. The images reportedly included the victim(s) clothes partially removed, exposing undergarments and the pubic area. As a result, Felan-Garza was charged with Possession of Visual Pornography of a Person Under 16 Years of Age, a Category B Felony, punishable by 2-5 years in prison.
Other allegations in the criminal complaint stated that on or about January 11 and February 16, 2020, Felan-Garza lured or attempted to lure a child or mentally ill person into engaging in sexual conduct. The complaint reported that the victims were females 13 and 15 years of age at the time of the offense. He was charged with Luring a Child with the Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct, a Category B Felony punishable by 4-10 years in prison.
In addition, Felan-Garza was charged with Owning or Possessing a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, specifically a Winchester 12-gauge semi-automatic weapon, a Category D Felony punishable by 12-48 months in prison. Other offenses facing Felan-Garza included the alleged unlawful use or possession of an electronic stun gun/device by a convicted felon or fugitive from justice, and for possessing documents or identification information to establish a false status which included a social security card and a permanent resident card.
According to Chief Deputy District Attorney Lane Mills, the psycho-sexual evaluation conducted on Felan-Garza revealed that he was at “an above average or moderate-to-high risk to reoffend.” Additionally, the evaluator provisionally diagnosed him with pedophilia disorder. Pedophilic disorder is classified as a paraphilic disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5).
Mills argued that the defense might present information regarding Felan-Garza’s cognitive or intellectual issues, which resulted from an injury that left him in a coma for three days. “Despite his claim that he is slow or has some cognitive difficulties, the acts in this case were relatively sophisticated and repeated. “He has tried this with three young girls,” continued Mills. “This man is a danger. He needs to be in prison, and our society needs to be protected from him. Our children, these days, live in this online world. Like it or not, that is where we are. It is difficult to catch these pedophiles and these predators. We need to make sure we protect our children from this man, and a signal gets sent to anyone else out in our community that is thinking about engaging in this kind of conduct - that there are serious consequences.”
Present with Felan-Garza, was his defense attorney Churchill County Public Defender, Jacob Sommer, and his interpreter, Maria Davis. In response to the State’s arguments for prison, Sommer stated that he believed prison would only be a temporary solution in regards to public safety. “What can we do now that will be permanent?” Sommer asked the Court. “What can we do to ensure there are no issues in the future? And as we consider my client’s past, I ask the court to consider probation seriously as an alternative, given the fact that Mr. Felan-Garza has been in custody for nearly two years. At 530 days, he has already spent a significant amount of time out of the community.”
According to Sommer, the psycho-evaluation relayed that because of childhood traumas his client suffered, in combination with his below-average intelligence - he was a vulnerable child himself. “He suffered significant issues at the hand of his father who used electrical cords to beat him when he was a child. This puts into context – does not excuse, the behavior that brings us here today,” continued Sommer. “He honestly believes that he was trying to be honorable and trying to catch people committing abuse. He recognizes the pictures that he had were inappropriate and should have been immediately deleted, pictures he received from somebody else. In his mind, he was trying to prevent the types of things that both he and his sister endured. He did not believe he was doing something that was dishonorable in the sense that he was trying to catch someone else. He does know it was serious.” In conclusion, Sommer urged the Court to consider an alternative to prison or at least for the terms run concurrently rather than consecutively if imposed. Felan-Garza declined to make any statements.
“I have considered probation,” said Judge Stockard, “But I did not find it appropriate in this case.” He sentenced Felan-Garza to the following: (1) Luring a Child with the Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct, 48-120 months in prison, (2) Possession of Visual Pornography of a Person Under 16 Years of Age, 24-60 months, and (3) Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm as a Mentally Ill Person or Illegal Alien.
Each term will run consecutively, and the Court applied 530 days credit for time served.
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