A 44-year-old man from Eagle Mountain, Utah, is in custody without bail after being charged with 22 crimes, including rape and multiple counts of child sexual abuse, for allegedly treating his 10-year-old daughter as a "second wife."
Allegations and Charges
Court documents state that the man "used his juvenile daughter as a second wife because his first wife was not providing him with what he needed," according to ABC4 News. He faces charges including four counts of sodomy on a child, seven counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, one count of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of rape.
It is alleged that he touched the girl and took abusive photographs of her.
Investigation and Confession
The police investigation ran concurrently with a child protection services probe. Both began after an adult family member reportedly saw child abuse images on a device belonging to the man.
The man reportedly confessed to touching his daughter as a child and taking child abuse photos before deleting them. The victim has reportedly confronted him about the abuse.
He is said to have cried and "told the victim that she could not say anything to anyone about the abuse or he would go to jail," ABC4 adds. The report also said the child had previously remained quiet about the abuse because her father financially supported the family.
Custody
The man is now in custody without bail.
