POCATELLO After driving to Pocatello and reportedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl, a Utah man was taken into custody and prosecuted.
Beau Daniel Pickett, 34, faces charges of both felony indecent conduct with a minor and felony rape.
On February 22, the victim’s family brought the 14-year-old to the Pocatello Police Department to report the sexual assault, according to court filings.
According to the paperwork, the victim was taken to the police by the victim’s family forty minutes after the assault.
The victim’s mother had told an officer that the assault had taken place in a local elementary school’s church parking lot.
According to the affidavit, the victim’s mother took away her phone after learning that she had been using many applications to have illicit conversations with older males.
The mother informed the police that she had taken her daughter to see another relative on the day of the incident. When the mother got to the family member’s house, she discovered the victim had gone and stolen the family member’s phone.
In an attempt to locate the victim, the mother started phoning family members’ phones while driving around the elementary school. The victim’s mother picked her up after discovering her strolling close to a junction outside the school.
According to the paper, the victim acknowledged having intercourse in the rear of his car with a man named Beau.
The victim was escorted to Portneuf Medical Center to undergo a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination after speaking with the officer.
A phone number was discovered through forensic extraction of the victim’s phone, and a search revealed that Pickett was the owner. Pickett had messaged the victim about the upcoming sexual encounter and the location of their meeting.
The victim informed police that she had asked Pickett whether he had ever dated someone younger than eighteen in a video call before the rape. She added that when he questioned if she was underage, she lied and replied that she wasn’t.
However, she claimed that although her actual birthdate was displayed on one of her social media accounts, she claimed to be 18 on a dating app.
Magistrate Judge David Penrod will hear Pickett’s preliminary hearing on July 15 at 9 a.m.
It is not a given that Pickett committed these offenses, even if he has been charged with them. Until someone is proven guilty, they are all presumed innocent. He faces a minimum sentence of one year to life in prison if found guilty.
