A Leesburg man entered a plea in a Lake County Court to charges of sexual abuse involving a 20-year-old autistic woman.
David Garay, 62, appeared in court before earlier this month and entered a plea of not guilty to both charges.
The case began when a 20-year-old woman was taken to AdventHealth Waterman Hospital by Garay and another person whose identity was not disclosed in the arrest report. When the victim was presented to the medical staff shortly before midnight on Jan. 13 they were told that the autistic woman had been attempting to harm herself and said she wanted to die. Garay began to act strange and said he was concerned that the woman might be pregnant. He told the medical staff that he had been having sex with the woman. He then said that “he knew he was going to hell and he was sorry,” according to the arrest report.
A hospital security guard was called to the emergency room and met with Garay, who admitted to having sex with the disabled woman. The guard followed hospital procedure when confronted by a possible sex crime and called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which dispatched a deputy to the hospital.
The deputy met with the medical staff who told him what they knew about the case. When the deputy talked with the victim, she had difficulty communicating as she clearly had diminished mental capacity, as the deputy noted in his report. She was able to tell the deputy that they had sex a few times and that she said that Garay called what they did “Giving Her the D.” She said the acts occurred when another person, identified as Witness 1, was at work.
Witness 1 said that she was unaware of what had happened but did see the victim on more than one occasion try and grab Garay’s groin area while saying, “Give me the D”.
When the deputy tried to question Garay regarding his statements to the hospital staff, the New York native refused to discuss the matter.
Garay was placed under arrest for sexual battery on a disabled adult and lewd or lascivious battery upon a disabled adult. He has been held at the Lake County Jail with no bond set since Jan. 14.
