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VERNAL — A Vernal man held an ex-girlfriend and her three children against their will inside the woman's apartment for two days, according to charges filed by Uintah County prosecutors.
Gerber Arcili Flores was charged Wednesday in 8th District Court with five counts of aggravated sexual assault, three counts of child kidnapping, one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary, all first-degree felonies.
Flores, 30, is also charged with forcible sodomy, a second-degree felony, and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor.
Vernal police were called to an apartment complex Dec. 29 on a disorderly conduct complaint. A maintenance worker told officers he'd had an argument with Flores, who had been banned from the property.
The man pointed officers to the apartment Flores once shared with a woman and her children. The woman told police she had her locks changed after ending her relationship with Flores, but he managed to get into her apartment on Dec. 27, according to a probable cause statement written by Vernal Police Sgt. Vance Norton.
The woman told police she had her locks changed after ending her relationship with Flores, but he managed to get into her apartment.
The woman said she told Flores to leave, but he "pushed her to the ground and slapped her in the face," then took her upstairs and locked her in a bedroom, Norton wrote.
The woman told officers Flores sexually assaulted her at least twice a day for two days and would "force chocolates into her mouth" during the attacks, Norton wrote.
Flores also threatened to throw the woman out of an upstairs window if she tried to get help, and told her children he would kill them and conceal their bodies in the apartment's walls, the sergeant wrote.
The woman said she was able to get Flores near the front door on Dec. 29 and forced him outside. That's when Flores encountered the maintenance worker, who called police.
An exam conducted at Ashley Regional Medical Center revealed "a large amount of bruises all over" the woman's body, as well as several bite marks, according to Norton's statement.
Officers spotted Flores outside a Vernal business on Jan. 3 and arrested him without incident. He was booked into the Uintah County Jail, where he remains on a no-bail hold and a hold from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His first court appearance is set for Jan. 14.
