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SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Latter-day Saint missionary arrested over the weekend and accused of sexually assaulting a woman is now facing three first-degree felony charges.
Abraham Isaac Cruz Hernandez, 19, of Huntington Park, California, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Saturday and charged Wednesday in 4th District Court with rape and two counts of forcible sodomy.
"This individual was immediately removed from his volunteer missionary service as soon as the church learned of these very serious and troubling allegations," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement Tuesday. "The church is cooperating fully with law enforcement in this investigation. Missionaries are expected to abide by the highest standards, and those who do not will be released and sent home, and in situations involving criminal allegations, also face loss of church membership."
Saratoga Springs police were called to a home where a woman said she was sexually assaulted by a man who lives across the street, according to a police booking affidavit. Officers arrived to find Hernandez standing in a driveway.
According to charging documents, Hernandez, the victim and two others "had been playing games late into the night and decided it was time for everyone to leave."
The alleged victim told police "Abraham grabbed her and began kissing her, which she originally consented to," according to the affidavit.
But Hernandez then became more forceful and sexually assaulted the victim even after she told him to stop and tried to push him away, the affidavit alleges. "Shortly after their friends came in the garage and told them to stop."
Police noted in the arrest report that Hernandez is currently serving as a missionary and "does not have any family, support system, or ties within Utah. If released he will likely return to his home state of California."
A judge has ordered that Hernandez be held in the Utah County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
