Preliminary hearing set for convicted sex offender arrested for allegedly groping woman

Courtesy of the Cache County Jail

LOGAN — A 43-year-old convicted sex-offender, who was arrested again after allegedly groping a woman inside a store, will remain in jail until a judge can determine if he will be bound over on new charges. Azadeen Altom is being held on suspicion of forcible sex abuse and failing to register as a sex offender.

Altom appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday afternoon. His public defender asked the court to schedule a preliminary hearing, when a judge will determine if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to bind the suspect over for trial.

Logan City Police arrested Altom earlier this month, after a woman claimed he assaulted her, while she was shopping. Detectives also learned the defendant had been kicked out of his apartment and moved without updating his sex-offender registry.

Last March, Altom walked into Mt. Logan Middle School. Surveillance video showed him sitting in the school’s cafeteria, watching a group of girls. A month later he was arrested, after officers were called to store on report that he was harassing a teenage girl. The customer claimed he approached her, getting inside her personal space, and asked for a ride home.

In June, Judge Thomas Willmore sentenced Altom to serve one-year in jail. In November, the same judge released Altom early so immigration officers could deport him.

Police claim Altom’s native country refused to readmit him so ICE agents let him go, after they couldn’t deport him.

During Tuesday’s court appearance, Judge Kevin Allen ordered Altom to appear again March 12 for the preliminary hearing. The suspect remains in the Cache County Jail, being held without bail.

Altom has been arrested on similar crimes before. Nebraska records show he was convicted of sexually assaulting another adult individual in January 2013.

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