An Ogden man suspected in a child sexual abuse case was arrested Wednesday night by officers of the Perry Police Department on an Ogden Police Department warrant.
Juan Joel Garza, 57, of 301 S.W. Seventh St., Ogden, was arrested on charges of third-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child.
According to court records, law enforcement became aware in August 2018 that the victim, a 13-year-old female, alleged “she has been being touched inappropriately by her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Juan Joel Garza” and “this has been going on for at least a year.”
The victim said Garza “enters her room at night and touches her” body inappropriately. She also said Garza “had taken pictures” of her “on his cell phone” and had “done an internet search on his phone of ‘how old are girls when they become attracted to men.”
Search warrants were executed in 2018 by the Ogden Police Department on Garza’s residence in Ogden for “any and all evidence of child sexually abusive activity or the production, distribution or possession of child sexually abusive material.” According to court records, materials seized in the search included Garza’s cell phone, computers and other items.
Garza was detained on the warrant by the Perry Police Department and extradited to Boone County by the Ogden Police Department. He is held in the Boone County Jail in advance of his initial appearance in Boone County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
