Suspect arrested for alleged sexual abuse of mentally disabled woman

2018 stock image | St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A man was arrested on forcible sexual abuse following an investigation into a report that a vulnerable adult living in St. George was sexually abused by a man residing in the same neighborhood, police say.

2021 file photo for illustrative purposes only of the intersection of Red Cliffs Drive and Mall Drive, St. George, Utah, Dec. 20, 2021 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News

The arrest stems from an investigation that was set in motion when officers were dispatched to follow up on a report that a woman in her 30s with diminished capacity had been sexually abused in 2020.

According to charging documents filed with the court, the woman is considered a vulnerable adult who lives in an apartment but is unable to care for herself and is dependent upon the home-health aides that show up daily to prepare her meals and assist with cleaning and other tasks.

The incident allegedly took place on Dec. 17, 2020, when a man that lives in the neighborhood knocked on the victim’s door and told her his hot water heater had stopped working. The man was not wearing a jacket and it was cold outside at the time, the reporting party said, so out of politeness, the tenant let the man inside of her apartment.

Once inside, the man began making advances towards her, and despite her attempts to avoid him by going from room to room, the suspect continued to follow her and then, the report says he sexually abused the woman.

Before leaving, police say, the man reportedly told her not to tell anyone about what had happened, she said, including her guardians, and told her it was a “pinkie promise,” the officer noted.

Working with limited information, police spoke to a property manager who provided the name of a man who matched the description of the suspect, and through the course of the investigation, officers were able to corroborate other identifying information that led them to  31-year-old Elieser J. Munguia.

Officers also determined there were no work orders issued on a broken water heater in the neighborhood in question, and after further investigation, they also learned the water heater in that particular residence had been replaced a month before the incident in December.

Meanwhile, officers were alerted to a second incident reported on Thursday allegedly involving the same suspect.

According to the report, Munguia knocked on the reporting party’s door shortly before 7:30 a.m., and when she asked who was there, she heard no reply. As she was waiting on her ride to work, she opened the door and found him standing there. Munguia then pushed open the woman’s door and entered the apartment, and after speaking for a moment or two he left.

2020 stock image of Purgatory Correctional Facility, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 20, 2020 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

On Thursday afternoon, Munguia was interviewed at the St. George Police Department and told officers he had never had a conversation with the woman, nor had he ever been in her apartment, he said. He then went over everything he had done that day, an account that revealed he was home at the time of the incident.

The officer also noted Munguia had already demonstrated his ability to deceive the woman “and then push his way into her apartment,” leading officers to believe that given the opportunity, he would do so again.

Moreover, since the victim is a vulnerable adult, the officer wrote, she did not have the ability to provide consent under Utah law, which officers believed Munguia was aware of since he asked her to “pinky promise” not to tell his wife, her parents or anyone else about the incident.

Munguia was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and misdemeanor criminal trespass of a dwelling, a charge filed after the suspect forced his way into the woman’s home Thursday morning.

Munguia was released shortly thereafter.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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