RIVERTON, Utah, April 2, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Riverton man faces 14 felony charges related to crimes against a child and human trafficking, allegedly involving a 14-year-old victim.
Suspect Calan Nelson Clifford, 29, faces initial charges of:
- Three counts of trafficking of a child, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of rape of a child, a first-degree felony
- Sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of entice a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony
Riverton police were alerted after the child was taken to a Riverton hospital, where her mother reported the girl had been drugged and sexually assaulted.
The child told investigators at the Children’s Justice Center that she had been contacted through Snapchat by Clifford, who allegedly said he was 20 and offered to “get her stuff” if she would “do stuff.”
“Victim said Calan picked her up at her school in his white truck,” the officer’s statement says. “Victim said Calan drove her to a church parking lot.”
The victim told interviewers she was given nicotine and marijuana in exchange for illegal act, and afterward, the suspect drove her back to school.
The child told interviewers that Clifford had picked her up on other occasions, and at least twice, performed sexual acts on her after she said no. The girl said that in one case, Clifford gave her three water bottle caps of a drug that made her to feel “fuzzy,” and to fall in and out of consciousness.
“Victim said she remembered finally waking up somewhere in nearby area which was next to two local businesses,” the police statement says, adding that the victim’s mother tracked her phone, found her in the truck with Clifford, and took her to a local hospital.”
The probable cause statement says Clifford is also a suspect in a similar Riverton case, also involving a juvenile female.
Clifford is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system.
