VERNAL, Utah — A Vernal man is facing several charges after police say he kidnapped a 15-year-old off the street and sexually assaulted him inside an apartment.
Jose Gutierrez Torres, 34, was arrested Wednesday and faces multiple charges, including Aggravated Kidnapping and Obstruction of Justice.
According to court documents, police were flagged down by the teen's father in the area of the Silver Pines Apartments. The father told officers that his son was missing, but a GPS service from his son's phone showed he was in the apartment complex
During a search of the complex, police came into contact with a man later identified as Torres and asked if he had seen the teen in the area. Through a translator app, Torres told officers that he hadn't seen the teen.
Shortly after the search began, the teen's mother started receiving text messages from her son, saying he was being held against his will by a man he didn't know. At one point, the teen said he heard his father screaming for him outside and decided to make a run for the door.
Police saw the teen exit the apartment, and when they asked what happened, he shared that after taking a shower, he decided to go on a walk. After allegedly being kidnapped by Torres, the teen said he was "punched at" him before being sexually assaulted.
As the investigation was underway, the
A tenant for the apartment where the teen was taken arrived on the scene, and when shown an image of Torres, the tenant identified him as Alex Jose Gutierez, although his real identity was discovered later.
The tenant was able to call Torres on the phone and convince him to leave the apartment. At that point, Torres was detained.
When investigators interviewed Torres about what happened, he admitted to having misled police concerning the whereabouts of the teen. At first, Torres told officers that he had no idea how the teen got into his apartment, but eventually claimed to have met the teen on a dating website.
Torres told police that he went to the victim's home and picked up the teen without permission from the teen's parents.
