Riverton man charged with child abuse for allegedly beating teen after doorbell ditch prank

RIVERTON, Utah (ABC4) — A Riverton man has been charged with aggravated child abuse after he allegedly chased and beat a 14-year-old over a ding-dong ditch prank.

Marshall Aho, 23, was charged today with reckless aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony. The incident occurred on June 22 of this year, but charges were officially filed by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill today.

According to court documents, the 14-year-old and a few friends snuck out and walked to a gas station, and they also decided to prank a string of townhomes by ringing the doorbell and running away, commonly known as “ding dong ditching” or doorbell ditching.

At one of the homes, a group of men was in the garage when they rang the doorbell, and the men chased after the teens when they began running. The victim fell, and Aho allegedly pushed the teen’s face into the gravel and began kicking and punching him. The teen said that Ao punched him in the back of the head multiple times and kicked him in the side.

Allegedly, Aho asked the victim, “Do you want to die tonight?” and told one of the other men to grab his gun. He also allegedly asked the victim if he wanted “to meet Jesus tonight.” The victim said that throughout all of this, Aho grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the rocks. Before leaving, Aho stomped on the victim’s head.

The victim told police that he thought he would die during the assault. He was later diagnosed with a concussion, and the brackets on his braces were broken. He also had cuts and bruising to his ribs and forehead, as well as bumps and bruises on his head, stomach, and back.

The victim identified Aho in a photo lineup as the man who assaulted him.

This is a separate incident from a similar case that ABC4 covered in August of this year, where Tony Bernstone was arrested after assaulting a child and forcing the child to walk with him to a gas station following a doorbell ditch prank.

Bernstone was charged with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and intentional or knowing child abuse, a class A misdemeanor, on August 6. His case is still working its way through the justice system.