St. George man faces 6 felony charges for rape, sexual abuse of child

ST. GEORGE — A 22-year-old St. George man was arrested Tuesday for the alleged rape and sexual abuse of a child in 2014.

Detectives received a report of a possible rape of a 13-year-old girl, according to a probable cause statement written by St. George Police Detective John Manzer in support of the arrest.

Mason Todd Burton, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted June 23, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Mason Todd Burton, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted June 23, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

During his investigation, it was disclosed that Mason Todd Burton had sexually touched and had sexual intercourse with the child on three occasions, Manzer said in the statement.

“This occurred between February 2014 and March 2014 at a residence which is located in the City of St. George,” Manzer wrote. “This information was corroborated by witness statements.”

Manzer went to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility to interview Burton, who was in custody for other charges, about the case. However, Burton refused to talk to him about the incidents and requested legal counsel, according to the statement of probable cause.

Burton was charged with three counts of first-degree felony rape of a child, and three second-degree felonies for sexual abuse of a child.

According to Utah code 76-5-401.1 – sexual abuse of a minor – a juvenile is not old enough to consent to sex until he or she is 16 years old. And even then, consensual sex by minors is only defensible if the older party is less than 7 years older than the minor.

Furthermore, the law states a person commits rape of a child when the person has sexual intercourse with a child who is under the age of 14, according to Utah code 76-5-402.1 – rape of a child.

Bail for Burton’s release pending trial stands at $90,000, according to booking information, and he is still in custody as this report is published.

Burton is scheduled to make his initial appearance in 5th District Court on Thursday.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • sagemoon June 25, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    Scum bag.

  • ladybugavenger June 25, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    He looks like a rapist. He looks older than 22

    • fun bag June 25, 2015 at 6:23 pm

      looks like a serial killer too…

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