Provo man arrested in sex abuse case at UVU Institute of Religion

Utah Valley University in Orem is pictured on Wednesday Feb 9, 2022.

Utah Valley University in Orem is pictured on Wednesday Feb 9, 2022. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)


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OREM — A Provo man has been arrested and accused of inappropriately touching a woman at the Utah Valley Institute of Religion, and police say there may be additional victims.

David Duran Nava, 23, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of forcible sexual abuse.

On Monday, police say a woman was playing a piano in a classroom at the Institute of Religion building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the campus of Utah Valley University when Nava entered the room, sat down next to her on the piano bench and asked if he could hug her. The woman said yes, but as Nava hugged her, he touched other parts of her body without permission and kissed her, according to a police booking affidavit.

"The female pushed David away and she got up from the piano bench and attempted to leave. David stopped the female and hugged her a second time," and again inappropriately touched her, the affidavit alleges.

When police located Nava, he initially denied being in that building. "However, when I showed David a photo of him taken from the institute building security camera, he admitted that he lied to me," according to police.

When further questioned, Nava admitted to touching two women inside the building, according to the affidavit.

"David said the first woman he asked for money and then he touched her buttocks on the outside of her clothing. This woman did not report the incident, so she has not been identified," police wrote in the arrest report. "David also admitted that he has touched other women inappropriately over the last two years, mostly during church activities in the Sandy and Draper area."

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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