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LEHI — A Lehi man who has been arrested several times for voyeurism and lewdness against children but has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial, has been arrested yet again.
Jonathan Jareth Soberanis, 27, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Thursday for investigation of voyeurism involving a child and three counts of voyeurism.
Soberanis was captured on doorbell cameras looking into several Lehi townhomes during January, according to a police booking affidavit. Even though he attempted to disguise his appearance, police say they were able to identify him based on previous interactions with Soberanis.
Police were called on Jan. 12 after a resident reviewed several doorbell camera videos and found the same man looking into several windows on several nights. In the first incident, on Jan. 7, Soberanis is accused of approaching a resident's front porch about 8:30 p.m..
"The male then appears to look into the front window but then appears to get scared. The male is then seen running away across a common area of the townhome complex and go to a door. It was found this door belonged to an individual who was a caretaker for Jonathan Soberanis," the affidavit states.
Just seven minutes later, Soberanis returned to the victim's townhome, "but is now wearing a robe, beanie, and what appears to be a surgical mask. It appears Jonathan had gone home to change into clothing to conceal his identity," according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 11, Soberanis, "wearing a robe, mask, and beanie had come to (a) front window where Jonathan looked into the window and got the attention of the victim, a 7-year-old child, by tapping on the window. This caused the 7-year-old to become terrified. The 7-year-old called his parents and expressed that he felt he was going to be kidnapped," the affidavit says.
"This incident has caused the child to have night terrors and to be very concerned about the whereabouts of Jonathan."
The homeowner then reviewed other doorbell videos and found another video of Soberanis walking onto the front porch of a townhome and looking in the window on the same night, according to the arrest report.
Soberanis is no stranger to police. In June, he was charged with voyeurism, lewdness involving a child and unlawful detention of a minor after he was accused of going into a bathroom stall at the Lehi Legacy Center, 123 N. Center Street, and exposing himself to a 5-year-old boy. The charges were dropped in August, however, after a judge determined that he was not competent to stand trial and was unable to be restored to competency.
Soberanis was charged in 2018 and 2019 in separate cases of lewdness involving a child, including a case of exposing himself to a 9-year-old boy who was in a restroom at the Shops at South Town in Sandy. But both cases were later dismissed after it was determined that he was not competent to stand trial.
Lehi police noted in their affidavit regarding Soberanis' latest arrest that "based on previous history involving Jonathan, it is apparent that he is dangerous to children. He has been charged with sex-related offenses involving children in previous incidents under the care and supervision of his mother. Now, he has reoffended under the care and supervision of a program due to civil commitment. Neither have proven to prevent Jonathan's predatory behavior as he has again been caught perpetrating on children."
