Utah man charged after he allegedly had sex with 14-year-old girl
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POCATELLO — A Utah man has been arrested and charged after he drove to Pocatello and allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Beau Daniel Pickett, 34, is charged with felony rape and felony lewd conduct with a minor.
According to court documents, the family of the victim had taken the 14-year-old to the Pocatello Police Department on Feb. 22 to report the sexual assault.
The documents state that the assault had happened 40 minutes before the family took the victim to the police.
The mother of the victim had spoken with an officer and learned the assault had occurred in the parking lot of a church by a nearby elementary school.
The document states the victim’s phone was taken away after the mother discovered the victim had been speaking with older men inappropriately through multiple apps.
The day of the assault, the mother told the officer that she had taken her daughter to visit another family member. After arriving at the family member’s residence, the mother learned the victim had left and taken the family member’s phone.
The mother drove around the elementary school and began calling the family members’ phones to find the victim. The victim was found by the mother walking near an intersection away from the school and was picked up by her mother.
The document states the victim admitted to having sex with a man named Beau in the back of his vehicle.
After speaking with the officer, the victim was taken to Portneuf Medical Center to have a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination completed.
A forensic extraction of the victim’s phone resulted in a phone number being found and after a search showed Pickett owned the phone. In the messages, Pickett had messaged the victim discussing where to meet and about the future sexual encounter.
The victim told police that in a video call with Pickett prior to the rape, she asked if he’d ever date someone under the age of 18. She said he told her no and asked if she was underage, which she said she lied and said no.
However, she stated on one of her social media accounts, her real birthdate was listed, but on a dating app, she said she was 18.
Pickett is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. July 15 before Magistrate Judge David Penrod.
Though Pickett has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty. If convicted, he could face a minimum of one year to life in prison.