ST. GEORGE — A man was booked into jail on sexual abuse and voyeurism charges following a report of sexual abuse to a minor.
The arrest stems from a report received by the Washington City Police Department on Friday involving the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.
According to charging documents filed in support of the arrest, on Friday, the Washington City Police Department received a report that Thomas Jared Weaver, 49, had sexually abused a minor two years ago while he held a position of trust with the victim.
During a forensic interview that took place at the Police Department, investigators learned the alleged abuse started with Weaver purchasing specific clothing described as “revealing items” that he instructed the minor to wear when she was around him. Weaver also was accused of entering the bathroom and watching the girl as she showered, making sexual comments as he did so.
These incidents reportedly escalated into Weaver inappropriately touching the girl on several occasions, as well as him sleeping in the same bed as her when she stayed at his house.
Investigators also learned during a series of subsequent interviews that it was possibly the suspect’s long history of abuse that, in part, led the victim to come forward and report it to police.
Washington City Police Chief Jason Williams told St. George News that while detectives were interviewing the victim at the Police Department, officers encountered Weaver near a park just south of the Police Department.
Williams said Weaver may have stopped after seeing the victim’s car parked nearby. And while officers could not be certain as to why the suspect was in the area at that particular time, Williams said they have reason to believe that Weaver suspected the alleged abuse was being disclosed to police.
Through the course of the investigation, authorities say Weaver reportedly made several comments to family members that led them to believe he was mentally unstable, and that his mental state had been in a steady decline in recent months. Williams said Weaver also made several references to the Enoch shooting reported in January, saying he could be “capable of something like that.”
When officers confronted Weaver outside the Police Department, Williams said Weaver became angry and confrontational, telling officers initially that he wanted to discount the allegations made against him. But, according to the report, he later said he did not have sexual relations with the victim and requested an attorney, at which point all questioning ceased.
Weaver was then arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. He was booked on three second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child and one misdemeanor charge of voyeurism.
The officer also requested that Weaver be held without bail, “given the concerns of harming himself, his family, and the actions taken by him to seek out the victim and the severity of offenses.”
The request was approved Saturday morning by District Judge G. Michael Westfall, and Weaver remains in custody without bail.
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.
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