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HEBER CITY — A 30-year-old man was arrested over the weekend and accused of raping an 11-year-old girl.
Miguel Chavelas-Astudillo was booked into the Wasatch County Jail on Sunday and charged Monday in 4th District Court with rape of a child, a first-degree felony.
The investigation began when the parents of a missing girl contacted police and expressed concern that their daughter might have been with Chavelas-Astudillo, according to a police booking affidavit. Officers went to his home and spotted him getting out of a car across the street.
"Officers looked inside and were able to see a female inside the vehicle hiding underneath a blanket. The female was removed and was confirmed to be the missing juvenile," the affidavit states.
Chavelas-Astudillo initially told police he was just friends with the girl and they had only been eating in the car. He later admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the girl, but claimed she told him she was 18, according to the affidavit. Police, however, noted that Chavelas-Astudillo "should have known by the physical features and appearance of the minor that she was well under the age of 18 regardless of what she had told him."
Police have requested that Chavelas-Astudillo be kept in jail without possibility of posting bail, saying the girl "was already trying to defend him. I believe that he has influenced her emotionally to the point that she is in danger of him being able to easily manipulate her to fall victim again," according to the affidavit.
