Utah soldier home, jailed

A decorated U.S. Army soldier serving in Iraq has been pulled out of the war after Logan police issued a warrant for his arrest on child sex abuse charges.

Sgt. Trevor Gornik, 25, was charged in Logan's 1st District Court with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony and two counts of sex abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. He was released from the Cache County Jail on $15,000 bail.

Gornik was serving with the 1-8 Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, Colo.

Gornik joined the Army in May 2003 and his home of record is listed as Logan, according to Fort Carson spokesman Capt. Justin Journeay.

Gornik has received multiple commendations, including a Combat Infantry badge. If convicted, Gornik faces discharge from the Army. If the charges are dismissed or Gornik is acquitted, he is expected to rejoin his unit, Journeay said.

Police said Gornik is accused of molesting a child under the age of 14 about five years ago. The allegations came to light last year, said Logan Police Capt. Eric Collins.

"He was serving in Iraq at the time of the report," he said Thursday. "There wasn't any danger of another incident right then and there, so we just took our time and did a thorough investigation and had enough evidence."

Court records show a warrant for Gornik's arrest was issued in February 2005.

"Once we got enough evidence, we got a warrant for his arrest and contacted military officials," Collins said. "They went over there and got him out of Iraq and brought him back in military custody."

Gornik's recall from Iraq is the first such instance Journeay can remember happening at Fort Carson since soldiers there began deployment to Iraq. Journeay said he doesn't believe it is a frequent occurrence that a deployed soldier is pulled from duty to face criminal charges.

Gornik is scheduled to appear in a Logan courtroom for a preliminary hearing on May 17.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; sspeckman@desnews.com