Police ask victims to come forward in child sex abuse case
Mar 6, 2018, 8:08 PM
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Police are worried a Salt Lake City man, accused of sexually abusing three kids he babysat, may have more victims.
43 year old James Crawford lived near 8th East and 2nd South in Salt Lake City. This week he was charged with a handful of child sex abuses, including six counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, a first-degree felony; sodomy of a child, a first-degree felony; sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony; and lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor.
South Salt Lake police spokesperson, Greg Wilking, said predation isn’t limited to babysitting, and Crawford may have victims who haven’t come forward.
“There’s a variety of different ways that this individual may have preyed. We don’t want to narrow it down to one M.O.” Wilking said, “It generally goes unreported for long periods of time.”
Charging documents state Crawford told police he has urges to touch children sexually and that his abuse started 10 years ago. Wilking said he’s worried it may go back as many as 20 years ago.
He asked that parents talk to their kids about abuse and urge them to tell police if anyone, at any time, touched them inappropriately.
