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SOUTH JORDAN — A South Jordan man is accused of harboring a teen runaway and then using her Snapchat account to contact a younger girl and sexually assault her.
Danny Dinh, 23, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with child kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and two counts of sodomy on a child, first-degree felonies; sexual exploitation of a minor and enticing a minor using the internet, second-degree felonies; and two counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, third-degree felonies.
In March 2022, a 15-year-old girl ran away from home at the encouragement of Dinh, according to charging documents. During that time, Dinh would use the girl's cellphone and access her social media accounts, police said.
By October, the girl had left Dinh and stopped talking to him. She later learned, however, that someone else was using her Snapchat account, the charges state. The teen then learned it was Dinh, according to the charges.
While using the first girl's Snapchat account and posing as her, Dinh contacted a 13-year-old girl, the charges state. After several conversations with the young teen, Dinh told her he was actually a boy, but claimed he was 17, police said.
On March 7, Dinh picked up the girl in his car, police said. Once she was inside, he drove the teen to a park and sexually assaulted her, according to the charges. At one point, he told the girl that she either had to have sex with him or perform a sex act or he would kill her, the charges state. After, he told her "to not tell anyone" or he would make photographs of her public, police said.
When police questioned Dinh on March 16, he told them that the 13-year-old girl "wanted to stop but that he thought it was OK," according to the charges.
Prosecutors have requested that Dinh be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
