SALT LAKE CITY — A former branch president with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been charged with the rape of a teenager.
Salt Lake County Attorney General Sim Gill announced multiple charges against Armando Flores on Tuesday, for sexual assaults that allegedly began in 2002 when the victim was 14 years old.
In 2012, Flores was convicted of sexual battery involving a 17-year-old who belonged to his church.
According to charging documents, Flores was the branch president of the church which the victim and her family had joined after moving to Utah.
Flores is accused of discussing sexual acts with the victim as he taught her to drive, and another time served her wine when she was at his home. After one night where the victim found herself naked in Flores's bed, the victim said she confronted him about what had occurred, to which Flores allegedly "reminded [the victim] of everything he had done for her family and that they needed him," leading the girl not to tell her family.
The documents show that Flores allegedly continued to sexually assault the girl, even telling her about a doctor "who could sew her up and make her a virgin again."
Flores admitted that the victim wrote him a letter thanking him for all he had done for her family as branch president of the church, but also confronted him about assaulting her.
Flores was charged with two counts of first-degree felony rape and one county of first-degree object rape.
“The youth in our community should be able to trust the adults in their lives," said Gill. "We are here to help them flourish as they grow into adulthood, not hurt them and take advantage of their trust. We appreciate the courage the victim-survivor had to come forward."
