Layton man charged with raping, kidnapping girl in Ogden in 2016

OGDEN — A man has been charged with rape and kidnapping of a girl 10 years ago whom he encountered as he was driving and she was walking in Ogden.

Joshua Del Erickson, now 46, is charged with rape and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies, as well as forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, in the May 4, 2016, incident involving a girl who was 14 at the time.

The investigation by Ogden police into the matter dates to the day after the alleged incident. It started advancing last year after Ogden police received news from the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services that DNA gathered at the time of the incident matched Erickson, according to charging papers in the case. The Weber County Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed charges against the man, whose address in court papers is listed as Layton, and Ogden police requested a warrant for his arrest.

The girl had left a facility in Ogden that provides support services for young people and was walking to a friend's house, according to court papers.

"She had then been approached by a male individual on the street and then got into his vehicle," the affidavit for an arrest warrant for Erickson reads. The man gave her alcohol "and something to smoke," and she subsequently fell asleep.

She later woke up "in some bushes" with a piece of paper with a phone number written on it, a $20 bill and marijuana. A sexual assault exam was carried out soon after the incident and the victim, when contacted by investigators last year, "confirmed that she had indeed been drugged and then raped," reads the affidavit.

Authorities determined the phone number left with the girl belonged to Erickson and called him during the initial investigation, but he hung up and wouldn't provide his address. "His current whereabouts are unknown, and he has been uncooperative with the investigation since 2016," reads the affidavit.

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