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LAYTON — An incident between police and a man wanted on suspicion of child sex abuse forced the closure of Highway 89 in Layton for a short time Tuesday.
Robert Wayne Folsom, 24, was reported in need of a welfare check out of Spokane, Washington, after being deemed suicidal and armed, according to Layton police Sgt. Juan Moreno. He had warrants out for his arrest in Layton on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Folsom was charged last Thursday in 2nd District Court with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; eight counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony; one count of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony; and three counts of enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
According to police, Folsom met a 14-year-old Davis County girl through Facebook about a year ago. In February and July, Folsom traveled from Spokane to Utah to engage in illegal sexual activity, according to court records. They also exchanged nude pictures, charging documents state.
"After enticing her for sexual activity, he had traveled to Utah on three separate occasions and had sex with the minor," Moreno said.
Police received a tip that the man's Ford Mustang was parked in the Park and Ride on Antelope and Highway 89 around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday. Officers responded to the scene and initially didn't see him in the car.
But when they got closer, they found him hiding inside.
"He was given commands to exit the vehicle unarmed and he would not," Moreno said. "Due to the high-risk nature of the situation, we had to call our SWAT team out and they deployed CF gas into the vehicle and got him out that way."
When the man got out of the car, he already had cuts and injuries to his body. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment, where he remained Wednesday. When he's released, he'll likely be booked into jail on charges of enticing a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and potentially more charges related to Tuesday's encounter with police, Moreno said.
Highway 89 was closed in both directions during the standoff in an effort to protect the public.
Contributing: Pat Reavy
