Sex offender behind bars after allegedly abusing a young Cedar City girl and silencing her before her baptism

CEDAR CITY, Utah (ABC4) — A Cedar City man was arrested Monday after being accused of sexually abusing a young girl.

Dustin Allan Ford, 45, was booked in the Iron County Jail on nine first degree felony charges of sexual abuse on a child and an obstruction of justice charge.

Charging documents show that officers with the Cedar City Police Department first became aware of the alleged abuse after a teenaged girl reported Ford had abused her over a text message to her friends. The abuse was then reported to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

In a different case, Ford plead guilty to sexually abusing a child in 2013 and served time in prison.

A DCFS agent, along with a police officer, spoke with the alleged victim who stated she had been inappropriately touched by Ford for years, beginning shortly after he was released from prison.

The girl told officials that at the age of 8, when she was soon to be baptized at her family’s church, Ford took her aside and told her she could not tell the bishop about the abuse because he could “go to jail” if she did, court documents allege.

After being confronted by officers, Ford said he would be staying at a trailer park in Kolob should police need to speak with him again. However, police say he then left the area and “turned off his phone.”

He was later found hiding in the rafters of a garage in Beryl, Utah.

Ford is currently being held without bail while he awaits a court date.