TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — A Taylorsville man has been charged with multiple counts of rape of an underage girl that allegedly occurred while he served as a church youth leader.
Luis Fernando Trillo, 34, was charged Thursday by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office for the crimes that are alleged to have begun in September 2022 when the girl was 14 years old.
The victim, now 17 years old, told a Unified Police detective that she first met Trillo at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church after he approached her and said he liked her. The victim said she spoke with Trillo because "she was sad and needed some type of support," according to court documents.
After their first meeting, the victim said she and Trillo began having sex multiple times for a year.
Trillo later became jealous after the victim began making friends, leading him to take her phone one day and keeping her in his car against her will.
In June 2024, the victim's father found her phone and saw messages from Trillo, who told the girl to "deny everything." The father contacted police months later after he found the two talking, although the victim didn't want to help with an investigation because she "loved" Trillo.
The charges against Trillo said he told the victim to once again "deny everything and say no."
"Everything she said in the last interview was planned by him. (TRILLO) told her what to say, what to do, who to call, to get screenshots, and write a fake letter to say she was suffering from her parents," the documents read.
When the two got into an argument in January, the victim got out of Trillo's truck only for him to follow her "for 30 minutes to an hour." On the same day, when her mother drove her to school, Trillo was in the middle of a pathway and grabbed her, taking her keys and phone.
After the girl ended the relationship, Trillo came to her school and got into the backseat of her car. The girl claimed she didn't yell because she didn't want people to notice. Hours later, Trillo returned to the school and attempted to once again get back into the girl's car when she was with a friend.
Trillo allegedly followed the girl and her friend to an apartment complex, blocked the exit and got out of his own vehicle, and begged the victim to talk to him. The girl said Trillo threatened her by saying that if "she said or did anything, he would make her famous in the worst way," and that he had nude videos of her.
Trillo was charged with 27 counts, including eight counts of felony rape.
“Our youth should be protected, not preyed upon by the adults in their lives," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We applaud this brave young survivor for cooperating with the investigation and prosecution to help ensure the defendant is held accountable for his alleged actions.”
