Court documents outline a horrifying case of human trafficking, rape and kidnapping that took place in Duchesne County in 2014. 37-year-old Jared Stephen Morgan was arrested in Salt Lake County without incident after 8th District Court Judge Samuel P. Chiara issued a warrant for his arrest last Thursday, September 22nd. Court records show that Morgan faces charges of Aggravated Human Trafficking, Aggravated Sexual Assault, Rape, Forcible Sodomy, and Aggravated Kidnapping; all 1st Degree Felonies. The Affidavit of Probable Cause was unsealed
on Monday
after the victim’s information was redacted from the document. The document shows that the Lieutenant Detective of the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office began the investigation on Wednesday, September 21st, after the victim came forward stating that “she had been held against her will in a cabin in Duchesne County while she was 18 and 19 years old.” When the girl was 17-years-old, Morgan began to date her mother and their family would visit Morgan’s cabin in Duchesne County. After the girl experienced a hard breakup, Morgan invited her to visit the cabin with him and the sexual assaults began. Sometime later a second girl came to live with the pair at the cabin. The second girl was a runaway from Sandy city in 2012 that allegedly Jared had taken to live with him in Mexico “from the time she was 16 to 18…so she could come back and live with him.” Morgan informed the two girls that “the three of them would be in a relationship together.” Morgan falsified documents to show the girl’s mother that she was going into the military in Texas and told her she had to cut off all ties with her family and altered the girl’s appearance to make her unidentifiable. The court document also details an incident in which Morgan locked the girl in a shed for days and the only way she was given food was if she would eat rat feces off the floor and drink urine from a cup. If she did not puke, then Morgan would give her small amounts of water and food to eat. She was also forced to perform sexual acts to get food and water. The girl estimated she went into the shed the first part of June 2014 and was not let out until the middle of July. During this time, Morgan also used a taser to threaten her to perform sexual acts or while he raped her. After she was let out of the shed, Morgan drove the girl to his parents’ house in Sandy and told the girl if she told anyone, “I will end you.” Morgan was arrested at his parents’ home after the warrant was issued for his arrest last week. Court records show that Morgan faced similar 1st Degree Felony Charges including Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child dating back to 2007 in Salt Lake County’s 3rd District Court but all those charges were dismissed.
Photo Credit: KUTV
