An illegal alien from Mexico is facing more than a dozen felony charges for sex crimes against an underage victim in Utah.
Angel Manuel Mendoza-Diaz, 37, was arrested on Tuesday in Logan, a city in Cache County near the Idaho border.
Mendoza-Diaz has been under investigation since March after the mother of a 16-year-old girl told authorities that her daughter had been in a relationship with him, KVNU reports.
The victim reportedly met Mendoza-Diaz at church and the two later connected on social media.
Mendoza-Diaz reportedly helped the child set a password on WhatsApp to hide their messages, which included attempts from him to obtain lewd images of the victim.
The Mexican began picking the girl up from school in September 2025 for make-out sessions in his car where he would sexually abuse her, she told investigators.
“The girl said he repeatedly requested nude pictures and told her he wanted to get her pregnant once she turned 18,” according to KVNU.
“The girl also described controlling behavior, including telling her not to attend school dances or text her ex-boyfriend. Mendoza-Diaz told investigators he picked her up from school four or five times and they stayed nearby.”
Mendoza-Diaz was charged with eight felony counts of forcible sexual abuse and enticing a minor, four felony counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and two misdemeanors for unlawfully kissing a minor.
“On July 21, ICE lodged a detainer asking Utah to not release Angel Manuel Mendoza-Diaz, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, sex assault, enticing a minor, forcible sexual abuse, and unlawful kissing of a minor,” a DHS spokesperson stated this week.
“We are calling on Utah to NOT release this child predator from jail back into our communities.”
Mendoza-Diaz is being held without bail and is due in court on Aug. 3.
