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Man accused of sexually abusing girls in church shuttle van

juan ubaldo guerra mugshot.jpg
Posted at 3:16 PM, Nov 23, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-23 17:22:31-05

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah — A man was arrested last week after three girls reported him for sexual abuse, according to St. George Police.

Juan Ubaldo Guerra, 56, has been charged with five counts of sex abuse of a child, a 2nd-degree felony.

In August, two females age 14 and 18 reported to police that when they were younger, a man who they only knew as "Ubaldo" molested them while traveling to church in a van.

The man reportedly touched the girls inappropriately and forced them to touch him. One of the girls said he would do this when they were sitting in the back of the van, where other passengers could not see. Both girls said the abuse happened multiple times, and that he threatened "if she were to tell anyone that he would do the same thing to her sister." One of them told police she never reported it until recently because she was scared, and the other said she refrained because she thought she was protecting her sister.

In September, a 12-year-old girl also told St. George Police that when she was five or six, a man had touched her inappropriately in the back seat of a church van and forced her to touch him. She identified him as "Juan." Her mother told police they attended Living Waters Church.

Investigators identified Guerra as the suspect after combining the two cases and researching addresses near where the reported victims lived.

He told police "he did not touch anyone," court records state, but would not say anything more without his attorney present. He was arrested and held without bail.