VIRGIN – A Hurricane man facing 12 first-degree felony charges for alleged aggravated child sexual abuse, along with an assortment of other charges, was found dead Tuesday night in a remote area near Virgin. He is believed to have taken his own life.
On Tuesday, a request for a welfare check of Paul Brady Whitlatch was called in to the Hurricane City Police Department, Springdale/Zion Canyon Police Chief Garen Brecke said. Brecke said he thought one of Whitlatch’s family members placed the call, but he wasn’t certain.
“We were sent to a welfare check in an area of Virgin,” Breck said, “where one of my officers located the subject’s car and located the subject deceased.”
No other people were found in the area near Whitlatch’s car or body. Suicide is believed to be the cause of death, Breck said.
Whitlatch, 54, was arrested Oct. 29 following an investigation conducted by the Hurricane City Police Department into reports that he had inappropriately touched three different children on multiple occasions in 2014.
In addition to 12 first-degree felony charges for alleged aggravated child sexual abuse, Whitlatch was additionally charged with one third-degree felony for aggravated assault with a weapon, one third-degree felony for witness tampering and one class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct.
The additional charges stemmed from incidents that allegedly occurred when Whitlatch was confronted about the alleged child sexual abuse by the parents of the children. When confronted, Whitlatch put a loaded gun to his head and threatened suicide, according to a probable cause statement filed in support of his arrest. He then pointed the loaded gun at the mother of the children he was accused of abusing.
In September of this year, Whitlatch also allegedly delivered a letter to the father of the children. In the letter, several threats were made about “what will happen to the victim’s family, if police are involved,” according to the statement.
Following his arrest, Whitlatch “admitted to being in possession of the firearm and threatening suicide, over the allegations,” the statement read. “He also admitted to delivering the letter to the father of the victims, and identified this letter as his.”
Whitlatch was booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility but was later released on $100,000 bond.
Due to his death, all charges against him have been dismissed without prejudice, according to court documents. The case has been closed, and Whitlatch’s bond money was refunded to the bondsman.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and LaVerkin City Police Department assisted at the scene where Whitlatch’s body was found.
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He offed himself? Good. Now if we could just get the pedophiles in Colorado City to follow suit, the world would be a better place.
Coward
Sure glad to know all charges were dropped without prejudice. I guess doing the right thing has positive results.
Bye!
Woooooohooooooo . Yeah way to go ! now they can spend my tax dollars on cleaning the gutters along my street
Good for him. I hope this gives closure to the victims and their families.
I was sad to notice that the post left by Kimberly has been removed. This note was obviously written as an act of compassion for the innocent widow, daughters and sons of the man in the article. Have we, as a society, lost so much that we no longer feel a need to consider the needs and feelings of surviving family or friends? Are we so quick to thrust our hands into the blood and raise them high above our heads shouting and crying the word ‘Justice’ that we have forgotten that basic tenet of our judicial system, “Innocent until proven guilty”? Have we forgotten to care for our widows, widowers and children? If so; this world has lost the best part of us. Namely; that part which divides us from the rest of the animals of the world who prey upon the weak and injured. The cyber attacks on the message from Kimberly were nothing more than cyber bullying. Many countries, including the USA, have either passed laws or are considering laws to help limit this type of abuse. Pointing out guilt with a bullies hand is pointing with a guilty finger. Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President was known for many quotes. One of these was “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Let us consider the innocent victims, the nameless and very real people, who are always present in any tragedy that happens in life before we spread our vile thoughts. Now it is time for me to close these thoughts. Besides; I can hear the laptops, tablets and PDA’s warming up so that some who read this might demonstrate the wisdom and insight into human weakness provided by President Lincoln’s words.
I’m wondering what post you are referring to, ww? I’ve checked our cache of approved, pending and disapproved comments and find nothing by a Kimberly. Your points, nonetheless, are well taken and we appreciate your taking the time to offer them.
Truly,
ST. GEORGE NEWS
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief
Thank you for the kind words J. Kuzmanic. I would guess that you can’t find the post because she probably deleted her account with whatever social media or email she used to sign in with. That would explain the removal of both her post and any response.