ST. GEORGE — A man acquitted of rape in Washington County less than two weeks ago was arrested in Saratoga Springs, Utah, Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 6-year-old child.
Samuel Heber Butler, 24, of Saratoga Springs, was arrested by police in Provo where he faces multiple charges involving the alleged sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl.
Butler, who faced a first-degree felony rape charge involving a Dixie State University student in 2017, was acquitted by a jury Jan. 30 after a three-day trial in 5th District Court in St. George.
Washington County Attorney Ryan Shaum told St. George News that a case like this is “devastating” after the new charges in Provo. He said the state put on a “strong case, a good case” during the trial in St. George, “but the jury saw things differently.”
“Anytime you see a case where the defendant is acquitted to then go on and commit new crimes, particularly when it involves a victim so young … it is very troubling and quite frankly it’s devastating,” he said.
Shaum also said the new case puts the focus back on Butler, and the predatory behavior that is a continuing problem, which is supported by the current situation up north.
After the arrest in Provo Thursday, Butler faced first-degree felony object rape of a child, second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child and misdemeanor failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
The arrest stems from an incident reported early Thursday morning when Provo police received a call from a woman accusing the suspect of sexually assaulting her 6-year-old daughter. The woman said she met the suspect on a social media site several weeks earlier.
The woman told officers the suspect fell asleep on the couch while visiting the residence Wednesday night while the child was asleep on another couch until about 1 a.m., when the woman was woken up by the child reporting the incident to her mother.
When confronted by the child’s mother, Butler took a kitchen knife from the residence and fled in his vehicle. The report said at some point, he cut both arms and wrists and then crashed the van into a second vehicle near the woman’s home, then fled the scene.
While officers were searching for the suspect, a sexual-assault examination was conducted with the victim at Utah Valley Hospital’s Children’s Justice Center, where authorities said the child told the nurse that Butler had first kissed her before inappropriately touching her.
Butler was located by police shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday and booked into jail after he was treated for the injuries at the hospital.
As the investigation progressed, the child was interviewed for a second time and disclosed “that multiple things had occurred” during the incident, police noted. Butler then faced first-degree sodomy of a child and second-degree attempted rape of a child in addition to the charges submitted to the county attorney’s office that morning, according to charging documents filed Thursday evening.
The officer also noted Butler’s 2017 case for which he was just acquitted by a jury in 5th District Court Jan. 30, as well as being the alleged suspect in two other rape cases: one investigated by police in Orem in 2014 and the second reported to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office two years later.
The defendant remains in jail on $75,000 bail, even though the officer requested he be held without bail. “Samuel has shown that he is not only a danger to others, by sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl, but also to himself,” the officer wrote.
2017 rape case in Washington County
In April 2017, Butler was arrested by Dixie State Campus Police for the alleged rape of a female student, who reported to officers in January that she was raped by Butler on the night of Jan. 9, according to a probable cause statement sworn filed in support of the arrest.
Butler was living in Dixie State off-campus housing where the alleged assault occurred, but was not a student of the university.
Campus police were notified of the alleged rape on Jan. 10, the day following the alleged incident, according to the arresting officer’s sworn statement. The student told campus police she had met Butler on an online dating app called Tinder and had agreed to go on a date with him.
The woman told police that when Butler picked her up in the parking lot of her on-campus apartment, he took her to his apartment down the street instead of going for coffee. Once inside the apartment, Butler allegedly forced himself upon the woman despite the woman’s repeated protests and then held her down so she was unable to leave.
Upon further investigation, police learned of similar allegations made against Butler.
“Since the interview, this department has learned that the suspect has had similar events in other areas of Utah to include Logan City, Orem City and Utah County,” campus police Officer Eldon Gibb wrote. “This department learned that the suspect has been listed as a rape suspect in other cases where the suspect forces himself upon the victim.”
Two years later, the case went to trial and the jury returned after deliberating for less than three hours and acquitted Butler of both charges Jan. 30.
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