Former soccer coach pleads guilty to crimes against 8 children
Julio Cesar Gonzalez Garcia pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts against eight children between the ages of 13 and 15
By Ricardo Tovar
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SALINAS, California (KSBW) — A former Salinas soccer coach pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts against eight children between the ages of 13 and 15, per Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni.
38-year-old Salinas resident Julio Cesar Gonzalez Garcia pleaded guilty to three charges of contacting children online to distribute obscene material, one charge of providing children over the age of 14 with marijuana and eight charges for unlawful sexual touching, to include forcible lewd acts upon children under the age of 14, per Pacioni.
Cesar Gonzalez Garcia was initially facing 34 counts against him.
He is facing a minimum of 30 years and maximum of 41 years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life.
On Oct. 27, 2022, Salinas police responded to North Salinas High School for a report by a 15-year-old girl saying her soccer coach, Julio Cesar Gonzalez Garcia, who she knew as “Chicles,” had contacted her on social media and sent her a photograph oh his penis.
A second Jane Doe said the former coach had forcefully tried kissing her, toucher her inappropriately and tried to force her to touch his penis, per Pacioni.
“The subsequent investigation discovered six additional victims, to include three 13-year-olds, and three 14-year-olds. Gonzalez Garcia knew all of his victims from local soccer programs as he coached most of them personally,” said Pacioni.
At least one of the alleged sex acts took place in an equipment room, but other acts took place in the defendant’s car at McKinnon Park, El Dorado Park and in the Monte Bella neighborhood, court documents say.
According to a criminal complaint, the 38-year-old coach in one case “sent a message via social media asking for sex in exchange for getting her on the soccer team.” The message was sent to a 14-year-old girl.
Gonzales Garcia coached girls’ soccer at North Salinas High School, La Paz Middle School and the El Camino Fútbol Club, a travel team in Monterey County.
Gonzalez-Garcia has also been charged with several counts of supplying minors with marijuana products that included vape pens, edibles and a joint.
Some of the alleged crimes date back to September 2019 but most recently to the summer of 2021.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2025.
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