Abraham Isaac Cruz Hernandez

Sources

1. Missionary serving in Utah County arrested on charge of rape, KUTV, May 14, 2024.
2. Latter-day Saint missionary serving in Utah arrested on suspicion of rape, Salt Lake Tribune, May 14, 2024.

• 1. Missionary serving in Utah County arrested on charge of rape

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  • KUTV

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  SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (KUTV) — Police arrested a 19-year-old serving in Utah County as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on charges of rape.

  Officers with the Saratoga Springs Police Department were called to a home north of Pony Express Parkway after reports that someone has been sexually assaulted by a person who lived across the street.

  When officers arrived, they found Abraham Isaac Cruz Hernandez standing in a nearby driveway.

  Police said Cruz told them he had been making out in a garage while along together, and then had sex.

  The victim, whose age and identity were not released, told police Cruz grabbed her and forced her to perform sexual acts.

  Cruz was arrested on charged of forcible sodomy, rape and sexual battery.

  Investigators said Cruz was identified as a missionary.

  KUTV reached out to Church communications for a response. They issued the following statement:

  This individual was immediately removed from his volunteer missionary service as soon as the Church learned of these very serious and troubling allegations. The Church is cooperating fully with law enforcement in this investigation. Missionaries are expected to abide by the highest standards, and those who do not will be released and sent home, and in situations involving criminal allegations, also face loss of Church membership.

• 2. Latter-day Saint missionary serving in Utah arrested on suspicion of rape

  • 20240514
  • News article
  • Salt Lake Tribune

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  A 19-year-old missionary with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was arrested Saturday in Saratoga Springs on suspicion of rape.

  The man is from California and was serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Utah. He is accused of rape, forcible sodomy and sexual battery, according to Utah County jail records.

  He was arrested after police were called to a Saratoga Springs home Saturday, where a witness told investigators the man sexually assaulted the witness’s sister in a garage. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name defendants unless they have been formally charged with a crime.

  The 19-year-old told police that he and the alleged victim, whose age was not released, were “making out” in the garage of her home and “eventually had sex,” according to a probable cause statement explaining his arrest. He declined to answer further questions, the document states.

  The man was living across the street from the alleged victim’s home. She told police she was in the garage with the man when he grabbed her and began kissing her, to which she said she “originally consented.”

  But when she told him to stop, he did not, proceeding to assault her, she told police. As he was allegedly assaulting her, friends came into the garage and told him to stop, a witness said.

  According to a statement from the church, the 19-year-old was “immediately removed from his volunteer missionary service as soon as the church learned of these very serious and troubling allegations.”

  The church “is cooperating fully with law enforcement in this investigation,” the statement added.

  “Missionaries are expected to abide by the highest standards, and those who do not will be released and sent home,” the statement continued. “And in situations involving criminal allegations, also face loss of church membership.”

  As of Tuesday afternoon, the man remained held in Utah County jail without the option of bail.