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OREM — An Alpine man with a history of mental illness who was charged last week with inappropriately touching a 17-year-old college student has now been linked to another alleged victim.
Jared Alexander Valderrama, 41, was charged Monday in 4th District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and stalking, a class A misdemeanor.
Valderrama was charged last week in another case with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, plus unlawful detention and trespassing, class B misdemeanors. In that case, a 17-year-old girl was walking on a sidewalk at Utah Valley University on July 10 when police say Valderrama approached her and asked if he could walk her home. He then began following the girl and eventually touched her inappropriately, charging documents state.
After his arrest in that case, Orem police said they were able to connect Valderrama to another incident that happened a couple of days earlier.
On July 8, a woman got off a bus at University Place Mall and Valderrama, who was also on the bus, asked if he could walk the woman to the mall. He then began following her, despite the woman telling him she did not want him to walk with her and running ahead of Valderrama in an effort to get away, according to charging documents.
At one point, when the woman had to bend over to tie her shoe, Valderrama caught up with her and grabbed her buttocks, the charges state. The woman made it to the mall, but Valderrama continued to follow her and "stated that he was a specialist in sexual relations and was 'professor red valentine.'"
Valderrama continued to try and touch the woman and told her "that he was going to come back to the mall everyday" to look for her, before the woman ran into a bathroom and waited for Valderrama to leave, the charges state.
Valderrama has also been charged with lewdness twice in the past year in Lehi Justice Court. Both of those cases, however, were later dismissed. According to an order filed a week ago in his most recent case, a judge last month found Valderrama not competent to stand trial.
"The court finds that the defendant is currently suffering from a mental illness and does not demonstrate an ability to consult with his attorney, nor does he appear to have the ability to have a factual and rational understanding of the courtroom proceedings," according to court records.
In addition, Valderrama has a history of trespassing on the Utah Valley University's campus as well as at the American Fork Library where he was also banned after he was allegedly caught looking at pornography, according to court records.
