Man accused of sexually assaulting underage athlete in Washington City

Stock image by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — An 18-year-old was arrested Tuesday in connection with the sexual assault of a juvenile athlete who arrived in Washington County to participate in a youth sporting event in February, authorities say.

Following the two-month investigation, investigators submitted two charges against 18-year-old Fa’agalugaluoletaitaeaoifagaloa Patrick A’etonu to the Washington County Attorney’s Officer for review — including one count each of first-degree felony rape and third-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. The detective also requested that a warrant be issued for the suspect’s arrest.

Authorities received a report on Feb. 13 that a teenage girl was sexually assaulted.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the warrant, the youth was visiting the Washington County area to participate in a sporting event, which is when authorities said she met the suspect, whom she had been communicating electronically with for the past two years.

The teen explained during the interview that prior to the sporting event, she had met the suspect once briefly, the affidavit states.

On the day of the incident, the teen and several teammates had gone to Dixie Rock off of Red Hills Parkway, which is where she met up with the suspect. Per an account that was corroborated by several witnesses who observed the two leaving in the suspect’s vehicle, A’etonu offered to take the athlete to a nearby beverage venue to get something to drink.

2019 file photo for illustrative purposes only of Dixie Rock, otherwise known as the Dixie Sugarloaf in St. George, Utah, Nov. 19, 2019. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The youth went on to say that instead of stopping for a beverage, the suspect drove past a number of food and beverage venues. As they continued traveling further away from Dixie Rock, the girl became “increasingly concerned and was physically shaking,” the detective noted in the report.

When the suspect noticed the teen’s apprehension, he offered her an unknown cartridge-type electronic vaporizing device to help calm her down, and then he instructed her to inhale the smoke, which the report indicated she did.

The girl reported feeling dizzy after inhaling the substance and proceeded to lie down in the backseat of the vehicle. The toxicology results for a blood sample taken later indicated a positive result for THC, the active ingredient of cannabis.

The officer also noted ingesting THC using a vaping device often increases the potency of the substance, consistent with the girl’s account and the lethargic reaction that followed.

Officers also learned that at some point, the teen reported losing consciousness for an unknown amount of time.

Meanwhile, using the GPS locating application on her cell phone, the girl’s teammates identified her location and went to the park where the suspect’s vehicle was located. According to information gleaned during a number of interviews, the teammates waited outside of the vehicle since they did not believe anything foul was afoot.

Composite image with background photo of a park off Telegraph Street in Washington City, Utah, April 22, 2022 | Phboto by Mori Kessler; overlay stock image of police tape, St. George News

The reporting party told officers it was the sound of her teammates that caused her to regain consciousness, which is when she realized that some of her clothing had been pulled down or removed, and then saw the suspect putting back on his shirt and pants, the report states.

Detectives also learned the suspect became agitated when the teammates arrived, which is when he reportedly told the girl to deactivate the location app on her cell phone and tell her friends to leave.

Shortly thereafter, the suspect returned the teen to Dixie Rock. According to her teammates that were present at the time, their friend “appeared lethargic” and was stumbling, which they described as a stark change in her demeanor.

Officers in St. George spoke to the suspect on the night of the incident, who reportedly told investigators he had taken the girl to a park in Washington City. That is when the case was turned over to the Washington City Police Department for further investigation.

The girl was taken to St. George Regional Hospital shortly after the incident. But according to an account by one of the nurses documented in court records, hospital staff were unable to complete an evaluation because the teen could not maintain consciousness.

It wasn’t until the teen was taken by family members to a hospital in Murray later that same night that an evaluation could be completed – the results of which were subsequently turned over to authorities.

Police say the suspect described the encounter as “consensual” during an interview on the night of the incident and later declined to make any further statements in connection with the incident.

The warrant was recalled following the suspect’s arrest on Tuesday and A’etonu was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility shortly after 2 p.m., where he remains on $25,000 bail at the time of this report.

The defendant is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Friday.

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.

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

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