The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints immediately removed one of its missionaries from volunteer service when the California man was arrested Saturday in Utah after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.
Abraham Isaac Cruz Hernandez, 19, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of rape, forcible sodomy and sexual battery.
“This individual was immediately removed from his volunteer missionary service as soon as the church learned of these very serious and troubling allegations,” the church said in a statement. “The church is cooperating fully with law enforcement in this investigation. Missionaries are expected to abide by the highest standards, and those who do not will be released and sent home, and in situations involving criminal allegations, also face loss of church membership.”
Saratoga Springs police received a call and responded to a home where a woman said she was sexually assaulted by a man who lived across the street, according to a police booking affidavit, according to KSL.com. Officers found Hernandez standing in a driveway when they arrived. He told the officers he had been alone with the victim and the two “eventually had sex,” the affidavit stated, according to KSL.
The woman told police she was alone in the garage with Hernandez when he began kissing her, “which she originally consented to,” according to the affidavit.
But Hernandez then became more forceful and sexually assaulted the victim even after she told him to stop, the affidavit alleged.
“Shortly after their friends came in the garage and told them to stop,” the report said, according to KSL.
Police noted in the arrest report obtained by KSL.com that Hernandez had been serving as a missionary and “does not have any family, support system, or ties within Utah. If released he will likely return to his home state of California.”