Ricky Garcia
Ricky Garcia
Ricky Garcia (born January 22, 1999) is an American performer and entertainer that has appeared as a contestant on The X Factor.[3] He is also a member of the boy band Forever in Your Mind.[1]
In September of 2019, Garcia filed a lawsuit against his former manager for sexually assaulting him starting from when he was 12 years old.[12]
Career
Ricky Garcia started his career as a model. In 2013 he decided to become a contestant on popular talent show The X Factor, where Simon Cowell ultimately teamed him up with Emery Kelly and Liam Attridge to form the musical group Forever in Your Mind.
Before the group was formed, Garcia was also an actor on the Disney channel on Best Friends Whenever from 2015-2016.[4]
Garcia has appeared in the film Bigger Fatter Liar, a remake of the classic Big Fat Liar starring Frankie Muniz. He has also been nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Comedy.
Personal Life
He was born in Puerto Rico to an American family (his father is rumored to be in United States Navy), but raised in Texas and has two older brothers. He has dated Destiny Rogers in 2015 and more recently Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak. The two were considered a hot item after they met at the Radio Disney Music Awards and were called "Clicky" by their fanbase. Their relationship quickly fell apart, and fans were outraged when Ricky was seen on multiple outings with model Beatrice Vendramin.[5]
Controversy
In September of 2019, Ricky Garcia accused his former manager Joby Harte for sexually assaulting him for years and passing him around to other members of the industry that used him as a 'sexual plaything'. On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 a lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Harte is of Hot Rock Media and has been accused of abusing Ricky Garcia since the age of 12 and throughout his teenage years, sometimes on a weekly basis.
Garcia's attorneys, Ben Meiselas of Geragos & Geragos and Michael Popok of Zumpano Patricios & Popok stated,[12]
“High powered male entertainment industry executives, led by his former manager Joby Harte, who were responsible for nurturing his career, instead sexually preyed on his economic and emotional vulnerability, and sexually assaulted and raped him,”
Allegedly, Hart used the 'well-worn pedophile playbook' of grooming and seduction.
He first had conversations with Garcia about sexuality, proceeded to showed him porn and later plying him with alcohol before raping him, the lawsuit alleges.
Garcia, in the suit, also alleges that on his 17th birthday, Harte entered his shower stall at a hotel and forced Garcia to masturbate him.
[14] Garcia's lawyer, Ben Meiselas stated,
“He [Hart] targeted an economically and emotionally vulnerable pre-teen and his parents.
He then groomed and seduced the child’s mother to have her lay down her defenses and give him unfettered access to her son, making her an unwitting accomplice to his depravity.”
Ricky Garcia did not tell anyone of the abuse that was taking place until he spoke up to Harte's former assistant in March of 2018, who then told Ricky's mother.
In fear that he would lose his career, Ricky did not speak up until September, 2019.[12]
"Sadly, I know my experience is just one of many and I hope my actions today will help others who experienced abuse to know that they are not alone and that there are people in the world fighting for them."
Tammy Garcia Speaks Out
On January 6, 2020 an article published on BoundingIntoComics stating that Tammy Garcia, mother of Ricky, had detailed Ricky's abuse to writer Tiffany FitzHenry.
For two months Tammy had spoken to Fitzhenry, detailing multiple occasions and incidences-including an alleged party at Anna Faris and Chris Pratt's house where abuse took place.
The letter reads:[18]
Not long after arriving in L.A., Ricky teamed up with Emory Kelly and Liam Attridge to form the boy band Forever In Your Mind.
Shortly thereafter, during an overnight ‘songwriting’ trip which was strictly ‘no parents allowed,’ Ricky and his bandmates, were taken to Catalina Island by Joby Harte and several songwriters, all adults.
Once there, the young teens were plied with alcohol including Scotch, tequila, vodka and champagne, purchased and served by Joby and the other adults.
Ricky and Emery both drank to excess, to the point of being sick.
After which Joby undressed and bathed Ricky, then Ricky blacked out.
Ricky woke up the next morning naked in bed with Joby, having no memory of what had happened.
This began a pattern that would go on multiple times per week for four years, steadily progressing to include all forms of sexual abuse, including rape, as well as abuse by others in addition to Joby Harte.
According to the documents, an incident occurred involving Tammy’s middle son, who’d been invited to attend the awards with his brother.
Nils Larsen aggressively pursued the young man, despite repeated attempts to inform Larsen that he was straight.
The message was not being received.
Ricky’s brother ended up having to jump the fence and flee on foot to escape Larsen’s unrelenting sexual advances.
According to Tammy and Ricky’s testimonies, as well as the lawsuit documents, at the home of this powerful, famous Hollywood couple, Ricky was again served alcohol openly and excessively.
And at one point during the night, Marketing and PR veteran Lisa Delcampo, the long-time “right hand man” to Lance Bass of NSYNC, and yet another good friend of Joby Harte’s, took Ricky, a minor, into one of the bedrooms and sexually molested him after being granted permission to do so by Joby Harte in what one could conclude amounts to nothing less than child sex trafficking.
Disney was made aware that their adult employee was having a sexual relationship with their talent Ricky Garcia, a minor, as Joby Harte discussed the matter with Hollywood Records Senior Marketing Manager Michelle Alexander.
However, not only did no one tell Ricky’s mother, Tammy, but the Disney Talent Relations employee was not investigated for having sex with a minor, nor was she fired from the supposedly family-friendly behemoth.
The Disney Corporation handled the situation by transferring Ms. Espiritu out of Talent Relations to another department within the company.
In December 2018, after other members of Ricky’s family, including his father, were made aware of the abuse, Ricky finally went to the police, filing a report with Officer Josephina Torres of the LAPD.
According to Tammy the investigation was flawed from the start, to say the least, Joby was never even interviewed or questioned by the LAPD.
The other band moms also corroborated the fact that Joby was never questioned by the LADP.
Then, in February, in what was a crushing blow for Ricky, the DA decided not to prosecute, claiming there was not enough evidence, and the case was closed.
When Ricky’s attorney attempted to press the issue, Officer Torres did not return his phone calls.
Trivia
Ricky's astrological sign is Aquarius.