A Utah man with a history of mental health issues has been charged with kidnapping a 1-year-old girl from her American Fork home.
Aaron Octavio Castro, 25, of Salem, has been charged in 4th District Court with child kidnapping and aggravated burglary, both first-degree felonies.
On Feb. 9, the child’s mother told police that someone had come through the back door and taken her daughter. The mother also told police she had been stalked by Castro, a former boyfriend, for several months, and that he is not the father of her child.
As officers were on their way to Castro’s home in Lindon, police dispatch received a call from his sister, who said she found Castro and a baby on the ground outside the house. According to police, the girl had “multiple abrasions and lacerations to her face, arms and legs,” but she was not seriously injured.
Castro told police he was at a recreation center at the time of the kidnapping, but security video did not show him there. Surveillance video from a gas station and a neighbor’s house showed Castro’s car leaving his home and returning “at the approximate time of the kidnapping,” according to a probable cause statement.
Castro’s sister told police he has “a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia.” According to charging documents, police have “multiple documented incidents” of Castro exhibiting “unusual behavior and mental issues.”
Castro is being held without bail in the Utah County jail.
