Women believe other victims may still be out there after Utah man sentenced for sexual assaults

WEST JORDAN — Three women said a man lured them in through dating apps and then sexually assaulted them, but they worry his punishment is not enough and there may be more victims.

This week, 43-year-old Samuel Whitney Faber was sentenced as part of a plea deal for the crimes and now faces at least five years behind bars.

Two of the women, however, told KSL TV Thursday that they believe there are still potential victims who have not come forward. The two spoke out about their experiences in hopes of inspiring other women to have the courage.

Kristy and Misti, who allowed KSL TV to use their first names for the story, said they had similar experiences with Faber.

“It went from having a good time laughing to, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to die,’” Kristy said.

Kristy, who matched with Faber on the Mutual dating app in March 2022, said she wished she would have recognized some “red flags” sooner when the two met at a restaurant. According to Kristy, Faber asked her if she had a concealed weapons permit and also showed her his gun inside the restaurant.

Though the two had met in a public place, Kristy said Faber convinced her to go back to his house so he could show her a car. However, the conversation on the ride to the home proved to be disturbing.

“He says, ‘Does anyone know where you are?’” Kristy said. “And I said, ‘Well, yeah, I have an app on my phone where my family can track me and know where I am.’ And he said, ‘Well, so if I throw your body in a ditch somewhere, I’ll have to remember to take your phone so that nobody can find you,’ and I knew I was in trouble.’”

Once inside the house, Kristy said the man once again reminded her he had guns and then began to undress in the kitchen.

“I said, ‘your neighbors can see you’ and he said, ‘that’s okay, let them watch,’” Kristy recalled.

The situation only continued to deteriorate, with Faber starting to undress her.

“I kept telling him, ‘No,’” Kristy said. “He ended up raping me in the kitchen.”

Kristy said the situation then moved to the backyard.

“I wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do, so he put his hands around my neck and strangled me,” she said.

Then, on the way back to her car, Kristy said Faber drove recklessly and erratically before sexually assaulting her once more.

“I didn’t think I could run because he had a gun,” Kristi said. “I didn’t think I could yell for help because I thought he would shoot me.”

Kristy said she later suffered a stroke due to an injury to her neck. However, Kristy’s story alone would have been harrowing enough if it had been the only one.

It wasn’t.

“When I saw it, I just literally threw up,” Misti said.

Misti said she met Faber on Bumble and had an encounter with him that was eerily similar in many ways to Kristy’s experience.

Though Faber has now been convicted as part of a plea deal and sentenced in connection with Kristy’s, Misti’s, and another woman’s cases, Kristy and Misti said they didn’t believe the punishment provided under current state statutes fit the crimes.

“Was it adequate justice—no,” Misti said. “Five years—if that’s what he does, is absolutely not enough for what he did just to (Kristy).”

The women said they were concerned about the potential for Faber to re-offend in the future when he is free, and they don’t believe it was their cases that were the first. They were hoping other potential survivors might also be motivated by their stories to come forward.

“I know it’s scary, I know it’s hard,” Kristy said. “It’s hell.”

They also urged women to follow dating best practices, such as meeting in public places in the early stages, driving separately, and listening to their gut instincts.

“I can’t change what he did to me,” Kristy said. “I can’t take it back, I can’t fix it, but I can stop it from happening to someone else.”

---

If you have experienced sexual violence, you can access help and resources by calling Utah’s 24-hour Sexual Violence Help Line at 1-801-736-4356 (English) or 1-801-924-0860 (Spanish). You can also call the Rape Recovery Center office line during office hours at 801-467-7282 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for free, confidential counseling.