Shock turns to compassion for
alleged assailants
Man is worried about 3 teens sought
in assault
January 19, 2007
By Amy Choate-Nielsen
AMERICAN FORK — Two days after his
53-year-old wife was allegedly assaulted and robbed by three
pregnant teenage girls, American Fork group home owner Spencer Moody
said he's worried about his former tenants' safety.
Spencer Moody is the husband of a woman apparently beaten by three
pregnant teenagers. "We appreciate everyone's concern, and right now
we just hope the girls are OK," Moody said in an interview with
KSL-TV on Thursday.
"They need to be found and taken
care of because they're not in the right condition to be running
around and running from the police and hiding." Moody and his wife,
Jana, have owned and operated New Hope Maternity Home for struggling
pregnant teens for three years.
Over that period of time, they have
helped about 20 girls, Moody said, and they have never had an
incident like the one that reportedly happened earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Jana Moody walked into
the dining/living room area of the house where three of their
teenage tenants, two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old, were doing
their homework, according to American Fork Sgt. Shauna Greening.
One of the teenagers hit Moody's
wife on the head with a frying pan, which stunned her but did not
knock her unconscious, Greening said. The three girls then allegedly
jumped on her, tied her up with electrical chords, put a sock in her
mouth and taped over it, according to Greening.
The girls allegedly tied up the
only other person in the house, a 17-year-old girl, then stole the
Moody's credit cards, checkbook, cell phone and video camera and
left the house.
The girls drove away in the Moody's
silver Dodge Caravan, with Utah license plate number 128 VTX. After
about 10 minutes, Jana Moody was able to escape from the electrical
cords and "go up and untie the 17-year-old," Greening said. "
Then they went to a neighbor's
house to use the phone and call 911." Jana Moody was not physically
injured during the incident, but, emotionally, the ordeal has been
discouraging, Spencer Moody said. "It's just been a tough thing to
go through," Moody told KSL-TV. "This is the first thing that has
happened like this, and that makes it tough."
Greening would not say if the
teenage girls have a criminal history, but girls who go to the home
may be sent there by their parents to get away from problems with
drugs or friends.
Greening wasn't sure how far along
each girl was in her pregnancy. A warrant for the girls' arrest is
being prepared, Greening said. The car's information has also been
entered into the National Crime Information Center database, so the
car can be traced nationwide.
If the girls are arrested, they
could be charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping,
theft of a vehicle, criminal mischief and aggravated assault,
Greening said. According to Greening, the Moodys were not aware of
any reason why the girls would carry out the assault. No previous
confrontations between the girls or Moody's wife had taken place,
Greening said.
Spencer Moody told the Salt Lake
City TV station that he and his wife will be closing the maternity
home. He said about 20 girls had successfully lived there and then
left the home. "We've had a lot of parents who call and just thank
us for the help that they've got and the way things have turned
out," Moody said. "We've had a lot of success doing this ...
Automobiles and other things can be replaced, but (the girls) need
to be safe and that's what we're hoping, that they'll be found
quickly and taken care of."
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