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An Orem man accused of kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl pleaded not guilty Monday in Provo's 4th District Court.
Jayson Quade Johnson, 26, is charged with child kidnapping, sodomy upon a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies, and one count of third-degree felony tampering with a witness.
During a preliminary hearing earlier this month, prosecutors played a video of the interview of the alleged victim at the Children's Justice Center. A judge found there was probable cause that Johnson had committed the crimes and bound him over for trial.
Johnson will appear in court again on Oct. 20 for a pre-trial conference. No trial date has been set.
According to a transcript of the girl's interview, she said she was walking to school on Feb. 5 when she tried to take a "short cut" from her home to Cherry Hill Elementary School.
She said she met a stranger there, who told her that she wasn't allowed to take the short-cut.
She said the man took her to a church parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her near a Dumpster, then picked her up and put her inside the trash container, where he raped her.
"When I was in the Dumpster, I prayed that I would be fine," she told an interviewer. "And I'd be able [to] tell people what this man did to me."
The assailant fled the scene after telling the girl not to tell anyone what happened. The girl ran to school, where she contacted a teacher who called 911.
Orem police Sgt. Matt Pedersen has said that DNA samples recovered from the girl, along with shoe prints discovered at the scene of the attack led to Johnson's arrest on June 13.
Johnson, whose prior criminal history included burglary, theft and fraud offenses, but no sexual crimes, is being held at the Utah County jail in lieu of $150,000 cash-only bail.