Man arrested after allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting girl in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 25, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) – A man who turned 78 on Saturday was arrested following the alleged kidnapping and abuse of a 15-year-old girl in March.

Tevita Hoihoi Mounga was arrested on Friday for the following first-degree crimes: aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, two counts of forcible sodomy and three counts of rape with objects.

The incident was reported on March 6, the same day it allegedly occurred.

The teen told Salt Lake City police “that she was abducted and sexually assaulted by an unknown older man. (She) told SLCPD investigators that she was walking in the area of ​​500 North 1000 West” near the Utah State Fairpark and “was carrying a plate of cupcakes when an older man driving a truck stopped and pointed at the cupcakes. (She) said she got into the man’s truck because she thought the man wanted a cupcake.”

The teenager described the man who attacked her as an “old man with wrinkles” who was old enough to be her “great-great grandfather,” according to Mounga’s affidavit. She said the man spoke either Tongan or Samoan.

The girl said the man “held her against her will and drove her to an unknown location.” The teenager said the man “had a large knife in the truck” and drove her near the airport, where he took her phone, turned it off and threw it out the window.

The alleged assault took place there, the affidavit states. At this point in the interrogation, she “became emotional and could no longer continue the conversation with the investigators.”

The next day, the girl’s mother called police and reported that her daughter’s phone had been tracked near 322 N. 2200 West in Salt Lake City, the affidavit said.

On May 10 and May 22, the SLCPD took two reports of “an older man, possibly Hispanic or Polynesian, seducing young girls in a truck. Witnesses in both cases took photos of the truck, which had Utah plates and was registered to Mounga.

The first victim was interviewed again and identified Mounga from a photograph as the man she said attacked her. The second victim, who said the man tried to get her to get into his truck, also identified Mounga from a photograph, his affidavit states.

Mounga was booked into the Salt Lake County jail system without bail and remained in custody as of Saturday afternoon.