St. George man arrested for alleged sex abuse, sodomy of child

Stock image | St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 46-year-old St. George man is facing seven first-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child. He was arrested Wednesday for the alleged crime.

Carlos Alfredo Lopez Palma, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted April 26, 2017 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

On April 13, a female juvenile reported to a St. George Police detective that she had been sexually assaulted by Carlos Alfredo Lopez Palma on at least seven different occasions, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington City Police Department in support of the arrest.

The sexual assaults allegedly occurred at Lopez Palma’s apartment when he lived in Washington City, the arresting officer wrote in a sworn statement.

The girl told police she was in fifth grade and sixth grade when the alleged abuse, detailed in the police report, occurred, the report stated.

“Recently, the suspect has requested inappropriate photos of the (alleged) victim which she did not send to him,” the officer wrote in the statement, noting that Lopez Palma also offered money to the girl if she would take her shirt off.

According to the statement, Lopez Palma used his position of trust to facilitate the sexual offenses and would tell the girl “he loved her and wanted to be with her.”

Following a police investigation, Lopez Palma was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Lopez Palma of five first-degree felony counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child along with two first-degree felony counts of sodomy on a child.

Lopez Palma is scheduled to make his initial appearance in 5th District Court Thursday afternoon before Judge Eric Ludlow.

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, 2017, all rights reserved.

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4 Comments

  • utahdiablo April 27, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    …*…so you like sodomy huh, your gonna get a lot in prison you …*
    Ed. ellipses: …*

    • comments April 28, 2017 at 11:21 am

      You’d think after being edited so many times that… LOL

  • comments April 28, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    You guys retracted the recent rape story? I was gonna follow up comment that I was out of line with wild and fantastical speculation in previous comments. oh well.

    • Joyce Kuzmanic April 29, 2017 at 6:33 am

      Good morning, comments. I think you are referring to this story which was updated with corrections. CORRECTIVE: The person charged is not a Dixie State student as headlined in the report published April 27. Follow the link for particulars; your comments are preserved with the updated story.

      Thanks!

      ST. GEORGE NEWS
      Joyce Kuzmanic
      Editor in Chief

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