Man appears in court for allegedly raping a child for eight years

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic details of a sexual nature. Discretion is advised.

TETON – A man appeared in court nearly two years after first being charged for allegedly sexually abusing a child for eight years.

Eribaldo Fabian Haro-Gutierrez, 42, was charged with one count of felony lewd conduct with a child.

Haro-Gutierrez pleaded not guilty to the charge. He appeared for his initial appearance on Wednesday.

Court documents detail eight years’ worth of disturbing details written in a statement by the victim, alleging Haro-Gutierrez’s abuse toward her from the ages of 4 to 12 years old.

On Aug. 6, 2020, the victim went to the Fremont County Sheriff’s office to report that she had been sexually abused by Haro-Gutierrez for a long period of time as a child.

The victim told a detective with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office that the abuse began in 1994 in Jalisco, Mexico, when he was 13 and she was 4.

According to the police report, the victim’s family eventually moved to Teton, where Haro-Gutierrez would stop the victim on her way home from school, take her to a relative’s house and rape her.

The victim told the deputy that in May 2000, it “clicked for (the victim) for sure that what he was doing to me was a sin.”

After confronting Haro-Gutierrez, he reportedly threatened the victim after she indicated that she wanted to tell a church leader.

“He said if anyone asked him about it, he was going to deny it and/or blame me,” says the victim in court documents. “He wanted to believe I was in the wrong and I was the sinner, not him.”

Court documents also say that Haro-Gutierrez tried to “bribe (the victim) with money and a computer” to keep her from telling anyone about the abuse.

She also told the detective about an incident where she was being abused and was “screaming.” Haro-Gutierrez allegedly told her to stop screaming or else another relative, a young girl, would hear and come into the room.

The victim says she was “afraid that if she did, he would do the same thing to her.”

She told the deputy multiple stories of sexual abuse over those eight years, saying that she had two hernia repairs as a child because of the sexual abuse.

According to court documents, the victim was seen at Madison Memorial Hospital in 1996, where she was treated for an “inguinal hernia” and again in 2002 for a “reoccurring inguinal hernia.”

When deputies attempted to contact Haro-Gutierrez in 2021, they found that his listed address in Teton no longer existed.

Deputies found a record of Haro-Gutierrez with an address in Logan, Utah, but were unsuccessful in finding him at that point.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in Fremont County on July 30, 2021, and a bond was set at $80,000.

According to Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake, a bond is set when a warrant is issued, but a person cannot bond out on a felony until they appear before the court. Once they are picked up on the warrant, they have to be seen by the court within 24 hours, excluding holidays and weekends.

Haro-Gutierrez was not found by law enforcement until Nov. 9, 2023, when he was served the arrest warrant in Elmore County.

He was arrested, posted bond and was released that same day.

A no-contact order was issued for the victim on Thursday, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Haro-Gutierrez on Dec. 20.

Though Haro-Gutierrez has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.