Man gave homeless teen hotel room in exchange for sex, documents say
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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man is accused of exchanging a hotel room for sex acts with a homeless teenager Monday night.
The Idaho Falls Police Department arrived at the Econo Lodge on Holmes Avenue around 8 p.m. for a sexual assault in progress. Mark Anthony Ullrich, 42, is now charged with felony sexual battery of a child after learning he allegedly had the teen perform a sex act upon him in exchange for the hotel room.
Investigators spoke with a witness who said he and his sister are homeless and met Ullrich on a local Facebook group dedicated to helping others. Ullrich reportedly offered to get the two a hotel room and met them at Walmart.
After going to the hotel, the witness said he went outside to smoke a cigarette. When he returned to the hotel room, he said Ullrich was lying on the bed undoing his pants without a shirt on.
Officers were called and when they arrived, they could hear Ullrich and the teenage girl talking about a sex act. Police asked them to come to the door.
“Mark told me he had just been trying to help the two because they are homeless,” an officer wrote in a report.
Ullrich told police he connected with the two, who said they were engaged. He said the couple offered to have the girl, who he said told him she was 18, perform a sex act on him. Further negotiations led to Ullrich offering to pay for two nights at the Econo Lodge, according to court documents.
Ullrich told police the girl did perform the sex act, but they did not have intercourse.
When police tried talking to the girl, she said she was 18-years-old and gave a fake name. Eventually, she confessed to only being 17 and gave her real name. According to officers, the girl said nothing inappropriate happened between her and Ullrich.
A family member then came and took custody of the teen.
Ullrich was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail, where he is being held on $30,000 bail.
Although Ullrich is accused of a crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A preliminary hearing for Ullrich is scheduled for July 27.