ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 14, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A St. George man allegedly took video of himself sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl, according to court documents.
A probable cause statement from the 5th District Court of Washington County said Juandedios Flores, 23, is facing charges of:
- Sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony
- Sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
On Sunday just after 11:50 a.m., St. George Police officers were dispatched to an apartment on a report of a sex offense. Upon arrival, the officer met with a woman close to Flores who said she was looking through the suspect’s cell phone and allegedly located a photo and video he took the night prior.
The woman showed the officer Flores’ cell phone, which allegedly contained a video of an 8-year-old known to both the woman and Flores, being sexually assaulted by the suspect. The phone also allegedly contained an explicit photo of the child.
“The woman then stated that Juan admitted to her that he had done the sex assault,” the statement said. “She said that she confronted him on it and said that Juan told her that he was sorry and tried to hug her but she told him that he needed to leave.”
Officers attempted to locate Flores throughout the day and were unable to do so. At approximately 8:45 p.m. Sunday, the woman’s father called into dispatch and reported Flores left a note on the woman’s vehicle. The note told her he was sorry, he was suicidal and that he would return to the home later, the statement said.
At approximately 11:05 p.m., officers located Flores running through some bushes in the 5th District Court parking lot. The officer followed the suspect in his patrol vehicle and was able to cut him off and box him in a parking lot in the St. George Boulevard area. The officer pursued him on foot and Flores tripped and fell into some bushes.
Another officer caught up with Flores and placed him under arrest.
During an initial interview, Flores denied any involvement in the incident, but while he was being transported to jail, Flores allegedly admitted that he took the video and photo that was found on the phone and that he knew the child was 8 years old. Flores told the officer he did it “because he was drunk.”
Flores was transported to Washington County Jail, where he is being held without bail. The felonies were committed while Flores was on probation or parole.
