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LOGAN — A man was arrested Thursday and accused of manipulating a 16-year-old girl into performing sexual acts by allegedly using "devil worship language."
Scott Preston Ferree, 23, was booked into the Cache County Jail for investigation of two counts of rape, two counts of forcible sodomy, four counts of enticing a minor, and sexual exploitation of a minor.
In January, the mother of the teen contacted police to report she was concerned about text messages between her daughter and Ferree, according to a police affidavit, and said Ferree was manipulating her daughter into having sex.
"She went on to say that Scott had been using some type of devil worship language to manipulate (her daughter) into the alleged sex acts," the affidavit states.
When interviewed by police, the girl told detectives that Ferree had instructed her to listen to "Dev" and said "Dev would text her and tell her what she needed to do to Scott," the affidavit states. "She went on to disclose that she had been instructed by this Dev on numerous occasions that she needed to" perform sex acts.
"She stated that she was told that if she did not cooperate, that she and her family would be cursed, and they would pay a great price for not doing what was required of her. She did state that out of fear for her safety and the safety of her family, that she would follow these instructions that were provided by Dev. She stated that most of these would come through text, either through Instagram and/or standard text messages," police wrote in the affidavit.
Police say the text messages from Dev started shortly after Ferree allegedly raped the girl.
Investigators traced Dev's phone number and learned it was an internet based number created in 2019 by Ferree, according to the affidavit. A search of the girl's phone also revealed "an extensive text stream" between her and Dev "where graphic detail is used to instruct (the girl) on where she is to meet Scott, the sex acts that she is to perform ... and threats if she does not comply with the instructions. Those texts took place over a period of several months in the fall of the 2020 year."
On March 8, Ferree was interviewed by police and told them his phone had been damaged because he dropped it and then put it in water when it started smoking, the affidavit says. "The phone had nine different strike marks front and back and the sim card was melted."
After interviewing Ferree and later serving a search warrant on his home, he was taken into custody.
