LOGAN — A 20-year-old Perry man already accused of sexually abusing teenage girls and women in two cases now faces numerous additional charges after the Utah Attorney General’s Office identified seven more alleged victims. Braydon M. Brailsford remains in the Cache County Jail since being arrested March 16.
Brailsford was charged last week with four counts of rape, forcible sodomy, aggravated kidnapping and four counts of rape, all first-degree felonies; plus three counts of forcible sexual abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies.
On March 8, Brailsford was originally charged in Box Elder County with rape, object rape and forcible sodomy. Just nine days later, he was charged in Cache County with enticing a minor by text, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and witness tampering. All those charges are felonies.
In the latest charging documents, the Utah Attorney General’s Office wrote, “With the filing of this criminal information the defendant, in three separate criminal filings in two separate counties, stands accused of multiple criminal sexual acts, from at least nine different females, six of which were minors at the time of their alleged sexual assaults.”
The assaults reportedly occurred from July 2017 through February, with the victims ranging in ages from 14 to 21, the charges state. Brailsford was between the ages of 16 and 19 at the time of the alleged assaults.
In several cases, the victims told police they met Brailsford on social media and he tried pressuring them into having sex with him shortly after meeting them in person for the first time, but they told him “no,” according to charging documents. He is accused of then sexually assaulting the victims.
In the March Box Elder County case, Brailsford is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and “offering to pay the victim money, do her homework, or do whatever else the victim needed” if she would not cooperate with police in their investigation, according to charging documents.
Days later, Smithfield City police received a complaint about sexual activity between Brailsford and a young girl. Officers were given the alleged victim’s cell phone. It showed several texts from the suspect, asking the girl to tell her parents not to pursue charges because “he was in enough trouble.” He also sent her a message through social media, offering to pay her if she did not report their sexual relationship.
On Thursday, the judge presiding over the Box Elder case ordered Brailsford to have a mental competency evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, according to court records.
Brailsford’s attorneys say their client has “limited mental functioning,” according to a motion filed Wednesday.
Brailsford is being held in jail without bail and could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
will@cvradio.com