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This is probably one of the most aggravated and violent felonies against a child we've seen in years," Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said of the attack on an 11-year-old girl. Her alleged attacker was charged Wednesday. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune) |
BY ASHLEY BROUGHTON
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Alerted by a neighbor who had reported a voice crying for help, two Midvale police officers responding early Monday heard a "whimper or yelp," and, as they drew closer, thumping sounds and a girl pleading, "I won't tell."
The officers jumped the fence into the girl's back yard, where one pursued a fleeing man and the other stayed to help the 11-year-old. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and was "bleeding profusely from injuries to her head and face," court documents filed Wednesday said.
"This is probably one of the most aggravated and violent felonies against a child we've seen in years," said David Yocom, Salt Lake County district attorney, in announcing charges against suspect 28-year-old Javier Wilford Sickler.
Sickler of Magna was charged with attempted aggravated criminal homicide, child kidnapping and attempted rape of a child, first-degree felonies that carry a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. He also was charged with forcible sex abuse and child abuse, second-degree felonies that carry a 1-to-15-year sentences.
The charge of attempted rape of a child will be changed, Yocom said, if test results confirm the girl was raped. She had been taken from her bedroom in her family's home in the 100 block of East Forbush Avenue.
Sickler also was charged in the Aug. 3 rape of a 31-year-old woman in Midvale. The woman had reported the rape immediately, and called police after seeing Sickler's photo on television following Monday's attack.
The Midvale girl remained in critical condition at Primary Children's Medical Center on Wednesday, but was continuing to show signs of improvement, said hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Midget. The girl underwent nine hours of surgery Monday.
Doctors said every bone in the middle of the girl's face was broken. According to the charges against Sickler, several of her teeth were knocked out, one molar was driven into her sinus cavity and her lips were cut through.
Emergency personnel who treated the girl at the scene told police she said she had been beaten with a hammer. Police found a hammer belonging to the girl's father in the family's front yard, the charges said, but it does not appear to be the weapon used in the attack.
The girl told police she did not know her assailant's name, but said her father knew him. Police said the girl's father knew Sickler from high school and the two recently had re-established contact.
A neighbor called police about 1:30 a.m. Monday, reporting suspicious noises. Officers Greg McArthur and Brandon Hopkins responded, but did not hear anything at first, the charges said. As they drove around the block, the neighbor heard a female crying for help and saying, "Please let me go, please let me go!" The neighbor called 911 again.
McArthur and Hopkins returned, and got out of their car. They heard a whimper, drove closer to the girl's back yard, and then heard her pleading with her attacker. After a brief chase, Sickler was arrested by K-9 officer Jared Richardson and his dog, Vader.
A car registered to Sickler was found parked in front of the house next door. Inside, police found an archery set and tools belonging to the girl's father.
The girl's brother told police a man had come in the home earlier that night and asked for their father, the charges said. His sister went upstairs to call their father, but the man was gone when the children returned.
After 12:00 a.m. Monday, the boy said the same man came in and looked in his sister's bedroom, then the living room, court documents said. The boy pretended he was asleep, then went into his sister's room to sleep with her. When he woke up, he said, his sister was gone.
The children's grandmother, who also lived in the home, told police she woke up at 12:30 a.m. to go to work, and saw Sickler walking to the side of her house. She left home shortly after 1 a.m., she said. In the Aug. 3 rape, which occurred near 7200 S. State Street, Sickler is charged with aggravated kidnapping, two counts of rape, forcible sodomy, attempted forcible sodomy and two counts of forcible sexual abuse. The victim was dragged into a ditch and sexually assaulted while her attacker repeatedly punched her in the head and face, police said. The woman suffered bruises, cuts and abrasions.
Sickler was jailed in 1994 on suspicion of rape, but prosecutors declined to file charges, saying the case needed further investigation. Efforts by police to find the victim for that additional investigation failed, authorities said Tuesday.
Even if the 1994 victim came forward, Yocom said Wednesday, charges could not be filed because the four-year statute of limitations in that case has expired.
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