St. George woman faces multiple felonies for alleged child sex abuse; reported assaults started at age 9

File photo for illustrative purposes shows police units responding to an incident in St. George, Utah, March 14, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A woman is accused of joining her partner in sexually abusing a child multiple times over the course of several years.

Laura Ann Regg appears in court via Webex facing multiple first-degree felony charges in a case involving the alleged sexual abuse of a child, St. George, Utah, March 30, 2022 | Court pool photo, St. George News

Laura Ann Regg, 35, made an initial appearance in 5th District Court in St. George on Wednesday on more than a dozen first-degree felony charges, including seven counts of sodomy of a child, four counts of rape of a child and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The man she allegedly joined in the reported sex abuse has yet to be formally charged in the case.

Regg is currently in custody at the Washington County Purgatory Correctional facility in Hurricane after her arrest in February on an unrelated felony case.

The charges stems from an investigation that began in January when authorities received a report of sexual abuse of a girl that took place over the course of multiple years while she was living in St. George. The abuse began when the child was 9 years old and continued until age 11, according to the probable cause statement filed with the courts.

Regg and her partner lived with the child at the time of the alleged abuse. According to the statement, she and the man worked in concert during the incidents of sexual abuse, which included rape and sodomy of the child. During one incident, Regg allegedly drugged the child by injecting her with a substance to dull the pain of the abuse.

Charging documents state the suspects told the girl not to tell anyone “or else they would go to prison.” It wasn’t until the young girl moved out of state that she disclosed the alleged abuse to a family member who then called police.

During a police interview at the jail, Regg denied that any of the abuse occurred as described by detectives. She also reportedly told officers nothing happened between her partner and the child “as far as she knows,” adding that the child was making up the allegations.

As District Judge G. Michael Westfall was citing the charges filed against Regg during the hearing Wednesday, the defendant waved her hand and asked that the charges not be read aloud, which did not deter the judge as he continued reading the list.

Court documents indicate the defendant has not yet entered a plea to any of the charges.

Westfall ordered that Regg remain in custody without bail.

This report is based on statements from court records 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.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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