A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a Duchesne County man charged with raping a child and suspected of faking his own death after being charged. 37-year-old Ted Lee Whitehead turned himself into police last April stating that he had a warrant out for his arrest. Court records show that Whitehead was charged in Duchesne County last year with 1 count of 1st Degree Felony Rape for an alleged offense on March 4th, 2016 as well as 1 count of 1st Degree Felony Rape of a Child for an alleged offense on June 1st, 2012. Court records show that the victim of the 2012 offense was a 12 year old child while the 2016 offense was a 15 year old minor. Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office confirms it is the same child. Whitehead had quickly posted bail after his arrest in 2016 and shortly after had told his mother of his plan to kill himself by jumping off a bridge into the Green River in Uintah County. Investigators later found Whitehead’s vehicle, a pair of sandals and an empty whiskey bottle at the river’s edge though no body was ever found. Last November, a laptop was mailed to the victim’s home along with a letter stating it was a gift from Google. The victim and the family suspected it was from Whitehead and forensic analysis showed that the laptop contained child pornography and journal entries about the victim. Whitehead is scheduled to be in 8th District Court
on September 18th
for a preliminary hearing in the two rape cases.
