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Grantsville man facing felony charges for alleged rape of 13-year-old girl

Posted at 3:04 PM, Oct 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-07 17:17:31-04

GRANTSVILLE, Utah — A Grantsville man was booked into jail on several charges after a 13-year-old girl told police he raped her after the two met through an online dating app.

According to a statement of probable cause, Dakota L. Parker faces one count of rape of a child, one count of sodomy of a child, and one count of sex abuse of a child.

According to court documents, Grantsville Police were contacted by police in West Valley City on September 28 after a 13-year-old girl from West Valley City reported she was raped in Grantsville.

Officer Alison Peterson of the Grantsville Police Department said the girl initially contacted the 29-year-old man using a dating app and the pair agreed to meet up.

The pair arranged for Parker to pick the teen up and take her to his home in Grantsville. The girl said the man gave her something and then she remembers waking up naked the next morning. She reported the alleged rape to her parents and police.

The girl and suspect were communicating over Snapchat, and police were given permission to take over the girl’s account to make contact with the suspect. Police say they posed as the girl and continued chatting with Parker, including messages discussing the girl being 13.

“Dakota showed no concern with the female being 13 years old and asked to meet up with her again to spend the night,” the documents state.

Authorities arranged a meet, observed Parker arriving at the meeting destination and then tailed him before making an arrest on October 4.

Parker agreed to speak with police and, “admitted to having sex, oral sex and touching the child’s breast who is a 13 year old female but claimed he did not know her age,” according to the PC statement.

Peterson said it’s important to monitor your children’s activities online.

“You give them a phone, you’re giving them access to the world,” she said. “A lot of it can be good, but a lot of it is not.”