ST. GEORGE — A Salt Lake City man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Santa Clara over the weekend was charged with rape and aggravated assault on Tuesday.
The incident was reported early Sunday morning when officers were dispatched to a residence in Santa Clara on a report that a woman had been sexually assaulted in her home by a suspect who had fled the area shortly before officers arrived.
Through the course of the investigation, officers learned the suspect, 29-year-old Gabriel Dutson, was a distant family member of the reporting party who told officers the suspect was visiting from Salt Lake City and had arrived at their home the previous evening where arrangements had been made for him to spend the night.
The woman went to bed and hours later was awakened by the suspect who was standing in the doorway of the bedroom wearing her clothing before he pushed her onto the bed and began sexually assaulting her. During the assault, the suspect bit the caller several times, which caused extensive bruising and contusions that were later photographed by police.
The woman also reported that Dutson put his fingers into her mouth and then “down the victim’s throat” to stop her from screaming.
“This caused the victim’s airway to be obstructed and caused injury to the victim’s throat and mouth,” the officer noted in the report.
The woman continued to fight the prolonged assault and then bit the suspect’s hand, which is when Dutson reportedly stopped the alleged attack and then walked her outside where she was able to break free and run from the suspect.
Santa Clara Ivins Police Sgt. Reed Briggs told St. George news the woman initially ran out into the roadway to flag down a motorist for help, but with it being “in the middle of the night,” he said there was no traffic at that hour.
Instead, Briggs said, she hid in some bushes until the suspect left and then ran to a neighbors house and called 911.
As the search for the suspect was underway in Santa Clara, Briggs said, an individual called 911 reporting that Duston had gone to the residence of another relative in St. George who was still at the home when officers arrived minutes later.
The report also states that during the interview, the suspect told officers that “God told him to do the above actions and was frustrated because he failed,” the officer wrote. Dutson also told authorities that he needed to “shoot the victim with an arrow” to resolve the purported failure, leaving authorities to believe the suspect has some type of mental health issue, according to the report.
The suspect was then transported to St. George Regional Hospital to be medically cleared and then booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday.
The officer then requested that Dutson be held without bail due to “clear and convincing evidence that Gabriel Newland Dutson would constitute a substantial danger to any other individual or to the community,” or that he would flee the court’s jurisdiction if released.
The request was approved when the order to hold Dutson without bail was signed by District Judge Eric A. Ludlow later that same day.
On Tuesday charges were filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office that include rape and object rape, each a first-degree felony, as well as second-degree felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault causing substantial bodily injury.
The suspect remains in custody in Washington County without bail.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. 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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