Provo man faces trial in rape case

PROVO — A teenage girl testified Tuesday that she awoke early March 2 to find her 26-year-old neighbor on top of her as she lay in bed.

The 15-year-old quietly identified Robert Bosserman — who sat handcuffed at the defense table — as the man who she says entered her home and sexually assaulted her.

Bosserman is charged in 4th District Court with aggravated burglary and rape, both first-degree felonies.

The girl testified during a preliminary hearing that when she woke up early to find him raping her, she immediately asked him what he was doing.

"He seemed out of it (and said), 'I don't know,"' the girl testified. "(I said), 'You need to leave now."'

She said she got a blanket and went to wake up her brother, then her mother, and as she walked upstairs she noticed Bosserman walking out her front door.

"At any time had you given him permission to have sex with you?" prosecutor Doug Finch asked the girl.

"No," she said quickly.

"Had you given Mr. Bosserman any permission to enter into your home?" Her answer was also no.

Her testimony, plus that from two police officers and Bosserman's mother, led Judge Steven Hansen to bind over the case for trial. Bosserman will next appear in court Tuesday to enter a plea.

When police arrived early that morning, Orem police officer Joseph Osmond testified they found the girl wrapped partly in a blanket and lying in a fetal position next to her mother on a couch. He said her demeanor was "consistent with someone who had been through a traumatic experience."

Michel Bosserman, the accused's mother, testified that her husband had taken Bosserman to a bar in Orem around 7 p.m. and told him to call when he wanted a ride home.

She woke up around 2 a.m. that morning with a bad coughing fit. She went to the kitchen to grab some water and a few minutes later, Bosserman walked in.

"He seemed drunk, a little tipsy," Michel Bosserman said. "We talked briefly. I chewed him out 'cause he didn't call his father like he had promised. Just a little chit chat, basically that was it."