Police: 67-year-old Draper man arrested after pantless 4-year-old holding candy found in his apartment

John R. Seymour. Photo: Salt Lake County

DRAPER, Utah, April 3, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A 67-year-old Draper man was arrested after his landlady found her 4-year-old daughter, whose pants and underpants had been removed, confined in the basement apartment of the suspect, who rents it from the family.

John R. Seymour was arrested Friday for sex abuse of a child and child kidnapping, and was booked into the Salt Lake Metro Jail.

According to a Draper Police Department report, the mother told officers she often accompanied her daughter to deliver Seymour’s mail to him after it arrived at the house. After the brief exchanges, Seymour often rewarded the girl with small treats, the mother said.

On Friday, the mother realized she could not find her daughter and began searching the residence. She knocked on Seymour’s door, and he told her “Just a minute,” according to the police report.

After he still failed to open the door, the mother forced the door open and “… observed (her daughter) with her pants and underwear off, with candy in her hand,”  the police report said.

According to the report, the mother asked Seymour, who was picking up her daughter’s clothes from the floor, why the child’s pants were off.

“She took off her pants, and I don’t know why,” he allegedly responded.

The mother reportedly grabbed her daughter, left the residence and called police, the report says. Draper officers responded and arrested Seymour.

Also, according to the fact sheet on the case, Draper officers doing a background check learned that Seymour reportedly had admitted to forensic interviewers working for the Department of Child and Family Services that he sexually abused a child in West Jordan.

Police also found paperwork regarding a Draper incident in which Seymour reportedly offered brownies to an unaccompanied 4-year-old girl at a city park. Officers reportedly found his behavior suspicious, but did not charge him because no laws were broken.

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply to Michele Taylor Hartley Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here