Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A man who police say claimed a voice told him to have sex with the next woman he saw and make a pornographic movie with her has been charged with attacking a woman at random as she arrived home.
Joshua Alan Funk, 31, who is listed as homeless in court documents, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping and attempted rape, first-degree felonies; forcible sexual abuse and burglary, second-degree felonies; and lewdness, a class B misdemeanor.
The terrifying encounter happened on May 16 when a woman was dropped off at her apartment building near 500 East and 400 South about 2:30 a.m. and entered the stairwell using her key card. She was walking up the stairs when she passed Funk, who was walking down the stairs, according to charging documents. The woman did not recognize Funk as a tenant of the complex.
Just moments after passing him, Funk ran back up the stairs, grabbed the woman from behind and pulled her to the ground, the charges state. The woman told police she "tried to get away by elbowing, kicking, punching and screaming" and was eventually able to escape his grasp.
But she tripped as she ran down the stairs, allowing time for the man to catch up with her. Funk pinned her to the ground and placed his hand over her mouth, the charges state, then put his fingers inside the woman's mouth and she bit them, causing Funk to scream in pain.
The woman was able to escape a second time and ran to the parking garage. As she ran, she said she heard Funk scream, "Why are all you girls like this?" the charges state.
"It was only the victim's ability to fight (Funk) off that prevented the rape," investigators wrote in the charging documents.
The woman later told police she "is likely moving" because of the incident.
After police identified and arrested Funk, he told detectives that he entered the apartment complex through an open garage door. He then attempted to explain his actions by stating "that someone was saying he was to have sex with the next girl he saw. Funk stated that a girl came up the stairs and he did what he thought he was being told to do. Funk thought he was to make a porno with her and have sex," the charges state.
Prosecutors have requested that Funk be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail, noting that he has been homeless for a few years, is believed to use methamphetamine and heroin daily, and has had "57 incidents with police contact" with 16 of those incidents resulting in convictions, including one felony crime in March 2020.
