SALT LAKE CITY — Charges were filed Tuesday against a former live-in babysitter for allegedly molesting a young girl he was in charge of watching.
Benjamin Michael Manning, 28, of Worchester, Massachusetts, was charged in 3rd District Court with eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
The alleged assaults happened in 2014, according to charging documents. Manning was a live-in babysitter for a Salt Lake City family with two young children, the charges state. A girl, who was under 8-years-old at the time, told her mother that Manning inappropriately touched her for about three months, according to the charges.
But when she was interviewed by police in 2014, she told them “she did not want to talk about what happened ... because it was a ‘secret,’” the charges state.
About a year ago, however, the girl opened up and told authorities what had happened, according to the charges.
A $500,000 warrant was issued Tuesday for Manning’s arrest.