KEY TAKEAWAYS

Two Massachusetts residents are charged with exploiting an autistic man in Utah.

They allegedly deceived him into sending nearly $20,000 for false emergencies.

The defendants have repaid only $500 and face multiple felony charges.

PROVO — Two Massachusetts residents are facing criminal charges accusing them of taking advantage of an autistic man they grew up with and convincing him to send them nearly $20,000 for alleged life-threatening scenarios while he went to school in Utah.

Francisco Javier Escribano, 24, and Michaela Dorothy Francis, 22, both of Norton, Massachusetts, were each charged Thursday in 4th District Court with theft by deception, communications fraud, financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and theft, second-degree felonies; and unauthorized posses

See Full Page