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OGDEN — An Ogden man who police say is living in the U.S. illegally pleaded not guilty in 2nd District Court Tuesday to three felony counts related to a child sex abuse case.
Elmer Giovani Castro, otherwise known as Juan Castro, 41, pleaded not guilty to two counts of sodomy of a child, each first-degree felonies, as well as sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. He was charged on July 25 and booked into Weber County Jail on July 30, according to records.
The investigation into Castro began late last year. On Dec. 19, 2018, Ogden police received a tip through the Division of Child and Family Services Child Abuse and Neglect Report. According to the warrant filed in 2nd District Court on July 25, a 15-year-old girl told an agent at a Children’s Justice Center that when she was between the ages of 5 and 12, a man she knew as “Juan” had sexually abused her on “multiple occasions.”
The girl said "Juan" was a friend of her mother’s and that he would take her to stores and buy her things. However, she said he also once gave her money after he exposed himself and performed a sexual act in front of her, the report stated. In addition, she said cases of sexual abuse “usually occurred in his truck … or at his place of work at a farm with produce and fruit trees in the area of Canyon Road and Gramercy Avenue (Lorin Farr Park),” and that he would allow her to pick flowers or produce either before or after the abuse, the warrant continued.
The girl added that Juan’s nephew would be in the vehicle or at work during the times, but Juan would make him go somewhere else to be alone with her, according to the report.
The girl said she didn’t come forward sooner because “she was afraid of what might happen” but reported the incident to a school counselor after she received a Facebook request from Juan that “disturbed her,” the report added.
After the incident was reported, authorities were able to identify the man as Elmer Giovani Castro. When given a photo of Castro, the girl told police she was “100% (sure) it’s him,” according to the warrant.
While Castro has an Ogden residence, authorities said he is living in the U.S. illegally. In fact, in the warrant police noted that Castro was a wanted fugitive by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and it was believed he was a flight risk. Authorities wrote that had ICE agents reached him before they did, he may have been deported to El Salvador “before any charges on this case could occur.”
Court records show Castro had no previous major criminal history in Utah prior to his arrest in the case.
During Tuesday’s hearing, a judge ordered that Castro remain held in Weber County Jail without bail. A pretrial conference was scheduled for Oct. 23, according to court records.
