Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ROY — An 80-year-old man was arrested and booked into Weber County Jail Wednesday after police say he sexually abused a girl for years, starting when she was 8.
Benjamin Henry Rasmussen, of Roy, is charged in 2nd District Court with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Police say Rasmussen began watching his granddaughter and her friend while their parents worked, starting when the girls were in second grade. Rasmussen is accused of sexually abusing the friend over years. The granddaughter told investigators she believed Rasmussen liked her friend better than her, according to a police booking affidavit.
On a camping trip with Rasmussen's wife, the granddaughter and her friend, Rasmussen went into where the girl was sleeping in the shared camping trailer and sexually abused her, the affidavit alleges. Later that year, Rasmussen picked the girl up from the doctor and pulled into the back of a grocery store parking lot to begin abusing her again, according to police, who said someone drove close by, so Rasmussen took the girl home.
The abuse escalated, with Rasmussen touching the girl and telling her that he loved her, that his granddaughter was her only friend, and that if she told anyone she wouldn't have any friends and her parents would put her up for adoption, the affidavit states.
The girl suffered "severe psychological injury" as a result of the sexual abuse, police said.
Rasmussen's initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
Most recent Police & Courts stories
Related topics
Collin Leonard
