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An Eagle Mountain man is accused of binding and raping his screaming wife repeatedly because "as far as he was concerned, once he married her she became his property," investigators allege.

The man, 27, also confessed to raping his preschool-age niece and threatened to molest his infant daughter if his wife did not have sex with him, police wrote in charges filed Tuesday.

Detectives began investigating the man on suspicion of abusing his daughter; he admitted to pinching the baby's nipple in early May while he was changing her diaper because his wife had refused to let him touch her, deputies wrote.

He went on to admit to raping his wife, deputies wrote.

"He said he did it a lot to her while she was pregnant and too weak and tired to fight back much," investigators wrote. "Once she had the baby, she fought harder and screamed louder, which caused him to worry neighbors may hear."

The man allegedly claimed he was a "sex addict" and his wife was his property, police wrote. He said he told his wife he was concerned he would molest their daughter "because of his past," police wrote; he later confessed to raping his niece about seven years ago in another state, when she was 3 or 4, deputies wrote.

However he said he was "joking and just trying to make his wife mad" when he threatened to molest their daughter if he was denied sex, investigators wrote.

When officers ordered him not to contact his wife, he replied that they "could not tell him what to do and whether or not he could contact his wife," deputies wrote.

The man was charged Tuesday in 4th District Court with six counts of rape and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. Investigators also referred the alleged rape of the man's niece to police in her home state.

In an effort to protect the identities of the alleged sexual assault victims, The Tribune is not naming the defendant.

Twitter: @erinalberty