ST. GEORGE —An Ivins man accused of sexually abusing a youngster under the age of 10 is in jail on six first-degree felony charges, including multiple counts of rape of a child.
The arrest took place on Monday afternoon when officers in St. George took an Ivins man, 49-year-old Hector Hernandez, into custody on a warrant issued out of 5th District Court following an investigation into a report involving the sexual abuse.
The initial report was forwarded to a detective in St. George in January. A forensic interview then was conducted with a woman who told officers she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the defendant.
According to charging documents filed with the court, the abuse began when she was a child living in St. George.
During this time, authorities say she was raped repeatedly and forced to perform sexual acts upon the defendant. At one point, the youngster was physically assaulted and suffered a fracture as a result. The affidavit adds that when Hernandez was confronted about the injury, the suspect did not want anyone to know what had happened for fear he would be deported from the United States.
Detectives then submitted an affidavit to obtain a warrant for the suspect’s arrest based on seven first-degree felony charges that were filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office, including six counts of rape of a child and one count of sodomy of a child.
Following the arrest, the suspect is scheduled to appear for a warrant review hearing, and he remains in custody in Washington County without bail.
In 2016, Hernandez was charged with felony identity theft following a traffic stop in which officers found a driver’s license and other identifying documents that appeared to be forged. He was formally charged with two second-degree felony counts of identity fraud and two third-degree counts of forgery.
In August of that same year, the defendant faced a felony forgery charge in a similar case.
Three months later, the defendant pleaded guilty to one of the identity fraud charges that was reduced to a misdemeanor, while the remaining counts were dismissed. He was sentenced to serve 179 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $750 and was placed on probation.
He also pleaded guilty to the forgery charge in the prior case, which also was reduced to a misdemeanor.
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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