Layton man, 71, facing charges stemming from alleged child sex abuse in 1990s

William Craig Mitchell. Photo: Davis County

LAYTON, Utah, Nov. 26, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A 71-year-old Layton man is facing multiple felony charges related to alleged sexual abuse of a child that reportedly happened decades ago.

William Craig Mitchell faces four counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony, alleged to have happened in the 1990s.

The now-adult woman told Layton police in August of this year that Mitchell, a former neighbor, had abused her at his house. In 1990 and 1991 as a child, the victim had kept a journal, with entries that noted multiple incidents in which she alleged that Mitchell was naked in front of her and performed sexual acts.

The probable cause statement in that case noted a seemingly similar case reported in 2017, in which an adult woman reported that between 1998 and 2000, the alleged victim reported that on three occasions she had been swimming with other girls at Mitchell’s house when he led them to the basement to play hide and seek, with each girl hiding in a different room.

When found, the victim alleges that Mitchell would slide ice cubes on her private parts and massage them. A second victim interviewed in the 2017 case also reported that Mitchell put ice cubes inside her swimsuit, the affidavit says. Mitchell denied any wrongdoing in that case.

In a Sept. 2020 interview, Mitchell admitted to having young girls play hide and seek in his basement in the 1990s, the statement says. Mitchell denied any wrongdoing, but did say their bodies would “often rub together” and that “the 10-year-old girls were the sexually aggressive ones, who often touched him in strange ways.”

The statement also says that Mitchell said of the girls, “they often wore immodest clothing, and he recalled accidentally touching a victim’s breast at one point while they were wrestling.”

Mitchell’s arraignment is set for Dec. 3 in Farmington.

1 COMMENT

  1. Get these sexual abusers! I too was sexually abused nor an Uncle for many years. I’m 72 years old , there has not been a day in all these years that a I have suffered from the sexual abuse this man did to me all those years ago.
    Go after these sexual abusers, throw them all in by prison.

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