This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Salt Lake City mother got a shock from police when they not only arrested her male friend for allegedly beating her small son, but also advised her the man is a registered sex offender.
A 911 call reporting a man hitting a 5-year-old boy with a rope brought officers to a home near 300 East and 300 South, just after noon Wednesday.
Officers located the 39-year-old suspect and, after investigating the allegations, arrested him.
Subsequently, police learned that he had been convicted in 2001 of second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child and sentenced to prison. Utah Department of Corrections records show he was released in January 2007.
The boy was returned to his mother, who told officers she was unaware of his sex offender status.
He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of child abuse and being a sex offender in the presence of a child. He remained behind bars on Thursday in lieu of nearly $5,500 bail.
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