This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

ST. GEORGE — A St. George man was charged Thursday with raping a woman who agreed to see him for coffee after they met online.

Samuel Heber Butler, 21, is charged with rape, a first-degree felony. Dixie State campus police arrested him Wednesday. He was held in Washington County Jail before posting $20,000 bail Thursday evening, according to Washington County Sheriff's Sgt. Jenni Shoemaker.

Police received a report on Jan. 10 that a rape had occurred in an apartment near the campus the night before, court documents state.

The woman told officers she agreed to go on a date with Butler after the two met on Tinder, a dating app. He told her before they met in person that he wanted to have sex, she told police, and she responded she didn't want to but would go for coffee, a police affidavit states.

He picked her up at her apartment and drove her to his place, where he began to kiss her as she pushed him away and told him that was not the reason she was there, according to the police affidavit. He stopped briefly but started kissing her again and groping her, she told investigators.

She told police she shoved him away again, but he later pushed her flat on the mattress. She tried but could not push him off because he was stronger, and he raped her, the affidavit states.

In 2016, he was charged with criminal trespassing and domestic violence in the presence of a child, but the domestic violence charge was dismissed. He pleaded no contest to trespassing.

An initial court date is set for May 1.

×

Photos