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PARK CITY — A 21-year-old man has been arrested in Summit County on allegations of raping a 13-year-old girl.
John Philip Leano, whose last known address was in West Valley City, was booked into the Summit County Jail on Friday and formally charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with three counts of rape, a first-degree felony.
The investigation began in January when a 13-year-old girl was caught vaping at school, prompting the girl's mother to go through her daughter's phone, according to a police booking affidavit. Text messages between the girl and an unknown man were discovered that police say included conversations about supplying the girl with vapes and having sex.
Police later identified the man from the text messages as Leano and learned the girl met him at a local store where he worked.
"The messages contained conversations discussing sexual encounters between the two. John solicited sex from (the girl) on multiple occasions during their text message conversation," according to the affidavit.
When questioned by police, Leano admitted knowing the girl was just 13 after their first sexual encounter, the affidavit states.
