This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 3:32 PM- A Utah fugitive spotlighted on the TV program "America's Most Wanted" last week was arrested Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla., after someone who saw the show reported the man to police.
Marc Clifton Bryant, 47, of St. George, was arrested at 11 a.m. without incident at a Golden Corral restaurant in Jacksonville, said Juan Becerra, a spokesman for the FBI's Salt Lake City office.
Bryant was convicted in April of raping a 16-year-old girl in 2004. He also abused her by tying her to a bed and torturing her with a blowtorch and a screwdriver.
Tried in absentia after failing to report to court, Bryant was found guilty of felony charges of aggravated kidnapping, child abuse, criminal solicitation, terroristic threats, witness tampering and rape of a minor, Becerra said.
According to "America's Most Wanted," the victim's family moved in with Bryant, who had befriended the victim's mother.
Bryant became infatuated with the victim, raping her three times and then threatening to kill her if she told authorities, according to the show's broadcast. He also handcuffed the girl to the headboard of her mother's bed and scarred the girl's face with a screwdriver and a blowtorch in an effort to get the girl to reveal a possible love interest she had at school, the show reported.
After the torture incident, he drove the girl to the outskirts of town, where he planned to abandon her, but then changed his mind and took the girl back to his home where he raped her in his bedroom, according to "America's Most Wanted."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Braithwaite issued a warrant for Bryant on June 9. A new sentencing date for Bryant had not been set as of Thursday afternoon.
mrogers@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">mrogers@sltrib.com