Man used teen’s Snapchat account to lure younger girl, sexually assault her, police say

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — A South Jordan man was arrested Thursday after police say he convinced one teen girl to run away from home and later used her Snapchat account to lure a second victim whom he sexually assaulted.

Danny Dinh, 23, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated kidnapping, child kidnapping, child rape, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, forcible sodomy, sodomy on a child, sexual exploitation of a minor and enticing a minor.

The investigation began March 8 when South Jordan police were notified of a 16-year-old girl who had her Snapchat account hacked.

The girl told police that when she was 15, she met Dinh and he convinced her to run away from home. Dinh ended up harboring the teen, according to a police booking affidavit. During that time, she said she used his phone to access her social media accounts.

The girl later left Dinh and stopped talking to him. Some time after, however, she was notified that her Snapchat account was being used and she learned that Dinh was the one using it, posing as her, according to detectives.

Police said they then learned that Dinh had contacted a 13-year-old girl while posing as the first girl. Even after telling the second girl he was a male, police say Dinh lied about his age. The girl agreed to meet with Dinh, and was sexually assaulted shortly after getting in his car, the affidavit states. At one point, Dinh is accused of telling the girl that either she was going to have sex with him or he would kill her.

Detectives served a search warrant on the Snapchat account and found messages Dinh allegedly sent to another person talking about each victim. At one point, Dinh allegedly stated, in regard to the 13-year-old, “But my fault if I took things too far,” the affidavit states.

Police questioned Dinh on Thursday and at the conclusion of their interview, took him to jail.