Mother and son found guilty in Fresno County of kidnap, torture of 13-year-old Clovis girl

A 48-year-old Madera woman, who thought she found her “prince charming” on a dating app, is facing life in prison after a jury on Monday found her guilty of plotting to have her estranged boyfriend’s 13-year-old daughter kidnapped and tortured.

Sandra Garcia was convicted of conspiring to commit a crime, sexual penetration by force, kidnapping, torture and dissuading a witness by force. Her 25-year-old son, Mark Anthony Roque, was also convicted on the same charges. He faces more than 25-years-to-life.

Neither defendant reacted with any emotion as the jury’s verdict was read Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors Adam Christopherson and Midori Howo expressed gratitude to the jury and law enforcement in Fresno County, Oakland, Lompoc and in Mexico where one of the defendants was captured.

“It was a full court press to bring this case to court and to bring a sense of justice to the victim,” said Christopherson, who was the lead prosecutor.

The bizarre case, which drew national and international attention, played out in a Fresno County courtroom over eight weeks. It took the jury three days to reach its verdict.

Christopherson said during the trial that Garcia was hoping to scare the daughter so badly that she and her younger sister would want to move to Sweden and live with their mother. Garcia’s boyfriend at the time was a Swedish born business executive who was starting to have second thoughts about their relationship.

Garcia and her two younger sons moved into the boyfriend’s 4,400-square-foot home in Clovis. Before that, she was living in Madera with her mother.

The 13-year-old girl was taken by force as she arrived at her home. Her eyes were covered and her mouth taped shut. She was thrown in the back or Carriedo’s car and taken up to the foothills where she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

The kidnappers left the girl tied to a tree, but she easily escaped and called for help.

Garcia, along with her cousin Miguel Carriedo and two of her sons, Mark Anthony Roque and Brandon Roque, were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl from her home in Clovis on Feb. 16, 2016.

Garcia might have avoided arrest had it not been for the secretly recorded phone calls by Carriedo. He testified that he installed a phone recording app on his phone while he was involved in a custody dispute with the mother of his children.

During one of their phone calls plotting the kidnapping, Carriedo warned Garcia to be careful about what she said. She didn’t. The calls were played for the jury who heard Garcia say she wanted the 13-year-old’s clothes ripped off of her.

Howo, chief deputy district attorney, was the original prosecutor on the case in 2016. She recalls being shocked at the allegations.

“I thought, am I losing my mind, this can’t be true,” she said.

“When I heard the phone calls to her cousin Miguel I was stunned,” Howo said. “This is a grown woman who is saying ‘we need to hurt’ a young girl who was 13 at the time. This is someone she lives with, who she takes care of. That is an evil action that she took and she was the mastermind behind it all.”

Also critical to the prosecution’s case was Carriedo’s testimony. He agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for pleading guilty to conspiring to commit a crime and torture. He faces a maximum of 15-years-to-life in prison.

Family members of the 13-year-old were not in the courtroom Monday when the verdict was read. Christopherson informed them of the verdict privately.

“This whole ordeal has been like a dark cloud over them,” he said. “I just feel grateful they can finally let that dissipate and move on with their lives.”

Late Monday, the father of the victim, Johan Gidstedt, issued a statement.

“This has been an 8 year ordeal that has affected many aspects of our lives. These criminals are now finally where they belong, likely for the rest of their lives. With this verdict our daughter can finally move on. She has earned the right to not think about this anymore.”

The father also thanked Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives Jesse Gloria and Andrea McCormick Wiesmer as well as Christopherson.

Earlier this month, Nancy Grace, a legal commentator and television journalist, featured the case on her podcast, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.