Utah Woman Accused of Raping Girl

(Provo, Utah) A 33-year-old local woman, Heidi Pobanz, has been accused of raping a teenage girl during a 2009 camping trip and continuing with biweekly sexual assaults in other locations.

Pobanz faces charges of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and forcible sexual assault. Pobanz denies the allegations and her attorney, Anthony Rippa, said the accuser suffers from mental issues.

Prosecutors have acknowledged that Pobanz's accuser may suffer from mental issues. Following the preliminary hearing, prosecutor Craig Johnson said that the girl has suffered abuse in the past, and that the perpetrator of that abuse is committed to the state mental hospital.

But Johnson also expressed confidence in the state's case against Pobanz and pointed out that the girl has no reason to fabricate the allegations.

Pobanz faces trial beginning February 6, 2012.