VERNAL — A Vernal man has been arrested and accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
Jose Gutierrez Torres, 34, was booked into the Uintah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of forcible sodomy, obstruction and giving an officer false information.
The investigation began when a family reported their 15-year-old son was missing and his phone's GPS showed he was at an apartment complex near 100 East and 900 South in Vernal.
"While searching the area, I received information from (the boy's) mother that (he) was being held against his will by an unknown male. I observed text messages which were exchanged between (the boy) and his mother in which (he) stated that he was scared and that the unknown male would not let him leave. (The boy) also did not know the exact apartment where he was located," a police booking affidavit states.
While searching the complex, the boy "heard his father yelling for him, at which time he ran out of the apartment" and found officers looking for him. He told police he had been physically and sexually assaulted by Torres, the affidavit alleges.
The boy told police that he was walking outside his own apartment earlier in the evening at another location when Torres "grabbed him by the elbow and took him" to his apartment complex, where he was assaulted, according to the affidavit.
When questioned, Torres claimed he met the teen on a dating app and picked up the boy without permission from his parents, the affidavit says. He allegedly said he lied about the boy's whereabouts when initially contacted by police because he was scared.
