Parents arrested after they allegedly had sex with their 15-year-old child in Utah, claimed it was 'safer'

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — Detectives responded to a Utah home and arrested a couple on Thursday after the couple’s 15-year-old child reported they had been a victim of sexual assault for more than a year, according to arrest documents.

To protect the victim, ABC4.com is not publishing the names of the suspects. The victim’s stepfather was arrested for forcible sexual abuse, forcible sodomy, object rape and rape. The victim’s mother was arrested for forcible sexual abuse, forcible sodomy and object rape. Both parents are in their 30s.

The affidavit of probable cause states that, more than a year ago, the two parents learned of their child’s online chats with strangers and found photos on the child’s Snapchat of the victim “in sexual situations.”

Documents say the parents “decided that teaching the victim about sex, and engaging in sexual acts with the victim would be safer for [them] than having sex with strangers.”

According to arrest documents, the teenager told Provo, Utah police and paramedics that their stepfather had been assaulting them for the past year and a half. The teenager said that their mother was aware of the sexual activity between the victim and their stepfather, documents say.

After the stepfather was arrested, he reportedly admitted to police that he had intercourse with the teenager, the affidavit says.

In addition to admitting to the intercourse, documents say the stepfather admitted he and the victim’s mother bought sex toys for the teenager and “showed [the victim] how to use them,” both on the child and on the parents.

Documents say the stepfather also told police he and the victim would shower together.

When police interviewed the victim’s biological mother, she also reportedly admitted to engaging in sexual actions with her husband and the teenaged victim, according to the affidavit.

The mother told police that her husband would not have sex with the victim, but instead would have sex with his wife in front of the child, documents say.

However, the affidavit states that the mother said, about two months before the arrest, the victim came to her with concerns about a broken condom. The mother reportedly confronted the stepfather about “having full intercourse with the victim and he denied it at that time,” as stated in the affidavit.

According to arrest documents, the man and woman have four more children together. Those additional children were cited as one of the reasons for the suspects being held because of the “substantial risk” they may pose.