An acquaintance that started on Tinder now involves criminal charges with a female BYU student saying a man sexually assaulted her and later threatened her life while she was at her campus job.
According to 4th District Court records, the 24-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were on their second date, on July 4, 2015, when she said the man started to touch her inappropriately and continued to do so after she told him to stop. They had “engaged in some kissing” on both dates according to court records. She reported the incident to Provo Police that evening.
Criminal charges were filed Dec. 1, 2015. According to police, the woman met with a member of Provo’s Victims Advocates group but didn’t follow through with an action that would prohibit him from contacting her. Months later, on Jan. 22, 2016, she said the man approached her at the Harris Fine Arts Center, where she works. She told police the man threatened to kill her if she testified against him in court.
The man’s lawyer told The Daily Universe he doesn’t believe the death threat incident happened. Deputy Utah County Attorney Sherry Ragan said she is waiting for investigation results before commenting on the claim about the death threat.
The man is scheduled for an initial court appearance Feb. 22 on one charge of object rape, a first-degree felony, and forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
