FARMINGTON — A Woods Cross man pleaded not guilty Monday to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young girl.
Sabino Mancillas-Venegas, 54, was charged May 20 in 2nd District Court with child kidnapping and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies.
Following his arraignment on Monday, a pretrial conference was scheduled for July 13.
On May 4, Mancillas-Venegas allegedly asked a 12-year-old girl to help him get something out of his truck. But when she got in the vehicle, he drove her away from her apartment complex, according to charging documents.
The girl said she told the man “that she needed to stay home and did not want to go.” But Mancillas-Venegas told the girl he would buy her something, and then stopped at a convenience store and offered to buy her a $50 gift card if she would kiss him, the charges state. The girl said no.
Mancillas-Venegas forcefully grabbed the girl and kissed her, then took her to another location where he sexually assaulted her, according to charging documents.
When interviewed by police, the girl revealed that a few weeks prior to that incident, Mancillas-Venegas “gave her money and told her he really liked her,” the charges state.