ST. GEORGE — A Hurricane man accused of sexually assaulting one of his employees in March 2022 was arrested during a traffic stop on northbound Interstate 15 in St. George late Monday night.
Raymond Kapongo, 28, was taken into custody after a registration check on the car by a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy revealed an outstanding first-degree felony warrant.
Kapongo is in jail on two warrants, including a first-degree felony warrant that was filed in connection with a months-long investigation by a LaVerkin City Police detective. The incident was reported in August 2022 and alleged that a woman had been sexually assaulted by the owner of the company she worked for.
The complainant contacted authorities to report the incident and the case was assigned to LaVerkin Police Detective Steve Johnson. During an interview the following month, investigators learned the sexual assault reportedly took place in March 2022, less than three months after the complainant started working for the company, according to the affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant.
Kapongo was identified as the owner of a business that specialized in cleaning rental properties, and it was while cleaning one of those properties that police say the incident took place.
While cleaning, the pair took a break to get something to drink, and shortly thereafter, the suspect reportedly started making inappropriate comments to the employee. The complainant told the suspect “she was not into guys, and only liked girls,” the officer noted in the report.
From there, the suspect became “forceful” and picked up the employee and took her to one of the bedrooms, despite her repeated pleas for him to stop. The report also states the suspect proceeded to sexually assault the woman, who told investigators she started panicking and then she “froze,” the officer noted.
The detective discovered through the course of the investigation that Kapongo had a prior misdemeanor conviction for a sexual offense in a case involving a coworker, and he was also a suspect in another case involving a sexual offense.
The detective submitted the affidavit in support of the suspect’s arrest and the case was filed on Nov. 22, 2022. One week later the warrant was issued for Kapongo’s arrest, and he was formally charged with three first-degree felonies, including one count each of rape, sodomy and object rape.
St. George News reached out to Johnson to inquire about the five-month delay that took place between the time the incident happened to when it was reported, but he said could not speak to this incident specifically and that in many cases, particularly when they involve a sexual assault, the level of trauma to the victim can be so severe it can take time before they are ready to report this type of crime.
The warrant, filed in November 2022, remained outstanding for nearly two months until Kapongo was arrested Monday night.
The deputy noticed a Lexus heading north on I-15, and a records check indicated Kapongo had a misdemeanor warrant issued out of Santa Clara, as well as a felony warrant. Both warrants were attached to the vehicle’s registered owner, Kapongo, who was the driver and only occupant of the vehicle at the time.
The driver reportedly was swerving over the line, and the deputy called for backup shortly after 11:30 p.m. He conducted a felony traffic stop near the St. George Boulevard exit. The suspect was ordered out of the vehicle and placed under arrest on the warrants, as well as for driving on a revoked license, the report states.
Kapongo was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility on the two warrants, as well as for driving on a revoked license and a misdemeanor possession charge after deputies reportedly recovered what appeared to be two marijuana joints.
The prior conviction mentioned in the affidavit filed in November 2022 referred to a case filed in 2017 and involved a misdemeanor sexual battery charge. In that case, investigators received an anonymous letter alleging that Kapongo was sexually involved with an underaged co-worker, according to charging documents filed at the time of the 2017 arrest.
Court records revealed that at the time, the defendant was employed at a local restaurant as a shift leader when he admittedly had a sexual relationship with one of his underaged subordinates, starting when the youth was under the age of 15, police say. The defendant pleaded guilty to the sexual battery charge three years later.
During a sentencing hearing held in 5th District Court on Sept. 3, 2020, the one-year jail sentence was suspended and instead, the defendant was placed on 18 months probation and ordered to pay a fine.
Following the arrest late Monday night, Kapongo is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Thursday and he remains in jail 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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