Rape case against Layton man going to trial after accuser testifies
Editor’s note: This story was updated after a previous version incorrectly spelled Christopher Lee Monson’s first name. We regret the error.
FARMINGTON — A judge ruled to send a rape case to trial after hearing almost three hours of testimony from a woman who said she was raped by a 27-year-old Layton man.
Christopher Lee Monson faces one count of rape and two counts of forcible sodomy, which are first-degree felonies. He is also charged with one count of attempted aggravated kidnapping, a second-degree felony. He was arrested and booked into Davis County Jail in October, where he’s been held in lieu of a $100,000 bail. Judge Micheal Allphin ruled Monson would go to trial and scheduled a felony arraignment hearing for Feb. 25 before Judge Thomas Kay.
The woman was the first witness called to testify at the hearing. It is the policy of the Standard-Examiner not to identify reported victims of sex crimes.
The woman testified Monson called her Oct. 1 and asked her to come to his Layton home for lunch. She was caring for a toddler that day and took the child with her to the home, she said. The victim said Monson kept asking to have sex with her and she repeatedly told him no.
She said she decided to leave and took the child out to her car, but realized she’d left one of the child’s items in the house. When she went back in, Monson again asked to have sex with her and threw her on a bed when she denied him. She said she struggled to get away but Monson raped her.
The woman said she asked to check on the toddler after he forcibly had sex with her and Monson said he would do it. While he was gone, she turned on the recording device on her phone and attempted to get him to admit to raping her. She said he agreed to give her his credit card so she could buy the a pregnancy prevention pill, since she didn’t want to have sex with him.
The woman said that the following morning, Monson texted her to return the credit card to his home.
She said she drove to the house with the toddler she was caring for, ran up to the door and Monson pulled her into the house. She testified she again fought to get away and he told her he was going to take her upstairs.
The woman said she tried to say nice things to Monson so he would let her go and when it became clear he wouldn’t, she said she performed oral sex on him so he would allow her to leave. The woman testified he then pushed her into the living room, where he tried to duct tape her wrists and raped her.
Afterward, the woman said she convinced him to let her check on the toddler in the car. She said that when she got outside, she got in her car and sped out of the driveway. Monson ran out into the street and stood in front of her car in an attempt to stop her, the woman said.
The woman called 911. When officers arrived, she received text and voice messages from Monson claiming he was going to commit suicide.
Officers said they found Monson in his bedroom. Police said he appeared to have taken an overdose of a prescription drug, Tylenol PM and whiskey, Layton Police Detective Garret Schenck testified. Police say they also found a butcher knife on the bed and nylon rope next to it.
During a cross-examination by defense attorney Mary Corporon, the woman said she previously had consensual sex with Monson but did not want to have sex with him on Oct. 1 or Oct. 2.
If convicted of any of the three first-degree felonies, Monson could be sentenced to serve five years to life on each count at the Utah State Prison. If convicted of the second-degree felony, he could be sentenced to serve one year to 15 years in prison.
You can reach reporter Loretta Park at lpark@standard.net or at 801-625-4252. Follow her on Twitter@LorettaParkSE or like her on Facebook.
