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A Draper man once accused of more than a dozen felonies for the alleged kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl is headed to prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting her.
Angel Vizuet Garcia pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault in West Jordan's 3rd District Court on Tuesday.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped 12 other felonies and one misdemeanor charge, including counts of child kidnapping, sodomy, rape of a child, obstructing justice and reckless child endangerment.
A judge the same day sentenced Garcia, 57, to a prison term of 15 years of life.
Garcia was the father of the victim's best friend, according to testimony from the girl's father during a March 2014 preliminary hearing.
The teen vanished from her parents' Herriman home on the night of Jan. 8. 2013, wearing just pajamas, but no shoes and without her glasses. The disappearance sparked a community-wide search, which ended when she called her grandparents from a south valley Wal-Mart store two days later.
In an interview with police, the girl said she had climbed out a window of her parents' home at 2 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2013, and met Garcia, who was waiting in a car on the street. They drove to Garcia's home, where they fell asleep in the same bed, court papers state.
Investigators looked for the girl at Garcia's home when she first went missing. Although she was hiding inside, Garcia told police he had not see the teen since July 2012.
Later that same night, Garcia — a single father of two — drove the girl to an area Wal-Mart so she could call her grandparents, according to the documents.
Garcia was originally charged with counts of kidnapping, obstruction of justice and child endangerment, following his January 2013 arrest. Prosecutors amended the charges after subsequent interview with the girl revealed the sexual assault allegations.