LOGAN — The preliminary hearing for Juan Valdovinos-Sanchez was postponed so attorneys could interview more witnesses. The 20-year-old Logan man is suspected of raping a teenage girl during a party at a hotel last summer.
Valdovinos-Sanchez appeared in 1st District Court Thursday afternoon. He was arrested earlier this month after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old girl who was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Prosecutors later charged him with rape, a first-degree felony, furnishing drugs to a juvenile, a third-degree felony, and providing alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
The alleged victim told deputies she was given methamphetamine and alcohol by several adult men at the hotel during the August party. She described blacking out and later being told by her friends, the suspect was with her locked in the bathroom and may have had sex with her.
Valdovinos-Sanchez told detectives, he didn’t know the alleged victim was a minor. He claimed when he realized that, he stopped what he was doing.
During Thursday’s hearing, state attorney Jacob Gordon told the court, he and the defense attorney were needing to interview more witnesses before proceeding. He asked the court for more time to gather the evidence.
Judge Brian Cannell rescheduled the hearing for April 25.