SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 25, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A man who turned 78 Saturday has been arrested after the alleged kidnapping and assault of a 15-year-old girl in March.
Tevita Hoihoi Mounga was jailed Friday for investigation of the following first-degree felonies: aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, two counts of forcible sodomy and three counts of object rape.
The incident was reported on March 6, the same day it reportedly happened.
The juvenile told Salt Lake City police “that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted by an unknown elderly male. (She) told SLCPD detectives that she was walking in the area of 500 North 1000 West,” near the Utah State Fairpark, “carrying a plate of cupcakes, and an elderly male driving a truck pulled over and pointed at the cupcakes. (She) said she entered the male’s truck under the impression that the male wanted a cupcake.”
The juvenile described the man who assaulted her as an “old man with wrinkles” who was old enough to be her “great, great grandfather,” Mounga’s affidavit says. She reported the man spoke either Tongan or Samoan.
The girl said the man “physically held her against her will and drove her to a location unfamiliar to (her).” The juvenile “said the male had a large knife in the truck” and drove her to an area near the airport, where he took her phone away, turned it off, and threw it out the truck window.
That is where the alleged assault took place, the affidavit says, adding that at that point in the interview, she “became emotional and could not continue speaking with investigators.”
The next day, the girl’s mother called police to tell them her daughter’s phone had been located near 322 N. 2200 West in Salt Lake City, the affidavit says.
On May 10 and May 22, SLCPD took two reports of “an older male, possibly Hispanic or Polynesian, in a truck enticing young girls. Witnesses in each case took photos of the truck, which had a Utah plate registered to Mounga.
The first victim was interviewed again and identified Mounga from a photograph as the man she said assaulted her. The second victim, who said the man had tried to entice her to get into his truck, also identified Mounga from a photo, his affidavit says.
Mounga was ordered held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system. He remained incarcerated as of Saturday afternoon.
