Utah Airbnb host charged with sexually assaulting guest
Feb 22, 2024, 1:38 PM | Updated: Jan 27, 2025, 7:37 pm

FILE (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
Editor’s note: All charges in this case were dismissed without prejudice in June “based upon the request of the victim” after prosecutors said the dismissal “appears to be in the best interest of justice.”
HURRICANE, Washington County — An Airbnb host in southern Utah was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting a woman staying at his property.
Jeremy Ray Spence, 46, of Hurricane, is charged in 5th District Court with object rape, a first-degree felony, and forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
A 58-year-old woman reported to police on Wednesday that “Jeremy had come into the casita that she was renting and had sexually assaulted her. She stated she saw him come in and tell her she was going to enjoy this,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Spence is accused of inappropriately touching the woman.
“There was other evidence of messages that showed the suspect was wanting to be in her room naked … and that he was possibly under the influence of alcohol,” the affidavit states.
When contacted by police, Spence refused to go to the police station for questioning. Officers went to his home and placed him under arrest.