Magna man charged with kidnapping teen girl with autism

A Magna man was charged with kidnapping on Thursday after allegedly picking up a teenage girl who has autism and taking her to his home.

A Magna man was charged with kidnapping on Thursday after allegedly picking up a teenage girl who has autism and taking her to his home. (mehaniq41, Adobe Stock)


Save Story

MAGNA — A Magna man is facing a criminal charge accusing him of convincing a teenage girl who has autism to come to his house and then trying to get her to take her clothes off.

John Maez, 41, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with kidnapping, a second-degree felony.

In September, a 14-year-old girl, who functions at the level of a 10-year-old, did not come home from school on time, "and it was unclear whether she had attended school," according to charging documents.

After the girl was located, she said "she had gotten a job babysitting to make money to buy food," the charges state. "(She) stated that she had been walking when a male, later identified as John Maez, pulled up in his truck and asked (her) if she wanted to make some money."

Once she arrived at his residence, she said she "ate a whole chicken, watched a movie and drank some vodka," the charges say. "Maez asked her to take her clothing off, but she declined." She eventually left the home and was found by police at a local restaurant.

When questioned by police, Maez allegedly "admitted to seeing (the girl) walking down the street and inviting her to his residence to babysit for money."

Most recent Police & Courts stories

Related topics

Police & CourtsUtahSalt Lake County
Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button