- William Piol Makuei, 60, was sentenced to 25 years to life for raping a child.
- He impregnated a 13-year-old girl in 2015, but wasn't convicted until almost a decade later.
- DNA evidence from the newborn baby linked Makuei to the crime.
SALT LAKE CITY — A 60-year-old man convicted of impregnating a 13-year-old girl a decade ago has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
In January 2017, William Piol Makuei, of Salt Lake City, was charged with two counts of rape of a child, a first-degree felony. More than eight years later, on Sept. 3, he was convicted of one count of child rape by a 3rd District Court jury.
"After lengthy legal proceedings and multiple attempts by Makuei to delay the trial, the September 2025 trial lasted one day and ended with Makuei's conviction," Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement.
After his conviction, Makuei filed a pro se appeal in which he requested a new trial where he could represent himself. The court called the appeal "premature" in a hearing on Oct. 16, and Makuei's counsel said they would not be filing for a new trial, court documents show. Makuei requested new conflict counsel, but the court denied the motion.
Makuei was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in the Utah State Prison. The court recommended that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole give Makuei credit for the time he has already served in the Salt Lake County Jail since his arrest in 2017.
The investigation into Makuei began in June of 2016 when a 14-year-old girl was taken to a local hospital and found to be 29 weeks pregnant, according to charging documents filed in 3rd District Court. Based on the girl's age, investigators determined she became pregnant when she was 13 in 2015.
Detectives learned that the girl had been raped multiple times by a man only known as "William." On one occasion, William offered the girl something to drink.
"She then fell asleep. When she woke up, her clothes were off," the charges state.
On another occasion, the girl was walking home from the store when William drove up next to her and told her to get in. He threatened her, saying "something bad would happen" to her family if she did not get in the car, according to the charges. The girl was taken to a house and raped, according to police.
Based on the description from the girl, investigators reviewed the records of a "Sundanese man named William who lived in the same refugee community" as the girl, according to court documents.
In August 2016, the girl gave birth to her child. Investigators collected DNA from the baby and followed Makuei "until he discarded a cigarette butt on the ground outside of his vehicle.
"Investigators collected the cigarette butt and submitted it to Sorenson Forensics for DNA for paternity testing. On Jan. 19, 2017, Sorenson Forensics returned a report that the sample from William Piol Makuei was a match for the father of (the child)," the charges state.
Makuei was arrested shortly after. He was 50 years old at the time of the sexual assault.
