26 Felony Charges Filed for Allegations While Church Youth Leader

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced the filing of 26 felony charges, including eight counts of first-degree felony rape, filed against Luis Fernando Trillo for allegations connected to his time as a youth leader at a church.

A 17-year-old, J.R., told police that when she was 14 years old, she met the defendant at her church. While the defendant was her youth leader, he told her he liked her and in September 2022, he asked her to be his girlfriend, and they began having sex regularly. When J.R. began to make friends, the defendant became jealous, taking her phone and not letting her leave his car at one point. In 2024, J.R.'s dad took her phone and saw messages from the defendant, in one message he saw the defendant had told her to "deny everything". In November 2024, J.R. was talking with the defendant when her dad found them. J.R.'s dad contacted the police, which opened the investigation. But J.R. said that she loved the defendant and didn't know what to do. J.R. told police that everything she had said in the interview was planned by the defendant. The defendant had J.R. call people and tell them she was in trouble with her family and that her family wanted her to say things that weren't true.

Around January 2025, J.R. got into an argument with the defendant in his car, and he took her phone away. J.R. went to her car and thought the defendant had left, but when she left the parking lot the defendant began to follow her for 30 minutes to an hour. While stopped at a stoplight, the defendant allegedly struck her car from behind and continued to follow her. J.R. then drove to her school, got out of the car and ran, but the defendant caught her and took her keys and phone. After the defendant started walking away J.R. was able to get her keys back, but she didn't call the police because she didn't want him to get in trouble.

Later, after J.R. broke up with the defendant, he went to went to her school at lunch and got in the back seat of her car, even though she was scared she didn't yell because she didn't want people to notice. On a different day, the defendant tried to get into the back seat of her car a second time but was not able to do so. J.R. says she recorded a conversation with the defendant where he told her that if "she said or did anything, he would make her famous in the worst way." J.R. said he had nude pictures and videos of her.

The defendant is charged with eight counts of first-degree felony rape, ten counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, two counts of first-degree felony object rape, five counts of third-degree felony tampering with a witness, one count of third-degree felony aggravated assault with a road rage enhancement, and one count of class A misdemeanor stalking.

"Our youth should be protected not preyed upon by the adults in their lives. We applaud this brave young survivor for cooperating with the investigation and prosecution to help ensure the defendant is held accountable for his alleged actions," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We appreciate the work Unified Police Detectives for their thorough and lengthy investigation that helped lead to the filing of these charges. All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law."