The Arizona Board of Dental Examiners has ruled that an East Valley dentist must have a chaperone present for all appointments involving minors after his former employee was accused of sexually assaulting three patients, all younger than 10.
Local media outlet AZCentral reported Tuesday that the decision followed a lawsuit against dental assistant Deion Garcia, 28, who was employed at Kidiatric Dental in Chandler. The alleged assaults took place in September 2022 and May 2024. Citing court documents, another local media ABC15 reported that the alleged victims; two were six years old and another was four years old.
A lawsuit filed in October 2024 by the parents of one girl names both Garcia and Kidiatric Dental. The complaint alleges that the 2022 assault occurred while Garcia was taking X-rays of their daughter and that he did not have the required certification to take radiographs at the time.
According to a complaint filed by the state dental board, the girl’s parents informed Dr. Walter Villanueva of the alleged assault. However, Dr. Villanueva determined nothing had happened and that he did not take further steps to prevent Garcia from being alone with minors.
In response to the findings, the board imposed a full practice restriction on Villanueva and ordered that chaperones be present at his two offices until proceedings involving Garcia are complete.
