- Ryker Buxton, 18, charged with 22 offenses, including child rape.
- Buxton allegedly groomed a 12-year-old girl and secretly lived in her home for 10 days.
- Prosecutors claim Buxton planned to run away with the girl to start a new life.
BLUFFDALE — An 18-year-old man is facing nearly two dozen criminal charges after police say he "groomed" a 12-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her multiple times while secretly living in her home.
Ryker Buxton was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with child kidnapping, three counts of object rape of a child, three counts of sodomy on a child, and three counts of rape of a child, all first-degree felonies; burglary and five counts of sexual abuse of a child, second-degree felonies; and six counts of unlawful kissing of a child, a class A misdemeanor.
Buxton was questioned by Bluffdale police on Sept. 16 when he was found in Utah County with a 12-year-old girl who ran away with him, according to charging documents. Buxton allegedly told detectives that over the past few months his "relationship" with the girl had progressed from "casual interactions to a romantic and physical relationship."
He told police that after his about his fifth visit to the girl's house, her family "removed" him "and told him not to come back," the charges state.
But Buxton said he and the girl "began dating" after that, and about three weeks later, he sneaked into her home and "was living in (her) house for 10 days and (her family) had no idea," according to the charges.
Buxton was discovered in the home after 10 days and he was again removed. But prosecutors say he and the girl then "made plans to 'leave the area, discussing options such as California or Ogden." After the girl ran away from home, Buxton "admitted their ultimate goal was to cross state lines, change their names, and start a new life," the charges say.
"The defendant in this matter became friends with the victim, then groomed her into believing that they had a special connection. The defendant, after being removed from the victim's home in August and told not to come back to the residence, went back to the residence for an extended 10-day stay," prosecutors wrote in the charges, requesting that he be held in jail without bail.
