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SALT LAKE CITY — A former day care owner was charged Tuesday with sexually abusing a woman nearly 20 years ago when the woman was 5 years old.
Ward Allen Bushman, 47, of South Jordan, is charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, in 3rd District Court. Salt Lake police initially said Bushman was on the run after they issued a warrant for his arrest. But he turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Davis County Jail.
Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said the charge is the culmination of nearly a year-and-a-half investigation. Detectives also believe there is a "high likelihood" there are additional victims and are asking for anyone who was watched by Bushman in his home day care in the late 1990s to contact them.
From about Sept. 1, 1998, to May 31, 1999, Bushman touched a 5-year-old girl inappropriately at his home day care, 580 E. Commonwealth Ave., according to charging documents. He is also accused of committing lewd acts in front of the girl, including having sex with his wife "in front of all the children in the house," the charges state.
No charges were filed against Bushman's wife as of Wednesday.
After the woman stepped forward, Shearer said detectives spent over a year corroborating her statements to the point that they could file criminal charges.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said he could not comment specifically on the case Tuesday, but he noted that in general in sex abuse cases it isn't uncommon for a victim to step forward later in life when they feel safer.
Bushman was not running a day care at the time he was charged, Shearer said. He was also charged in 2001 with felony theft and burglary, but those charges were later dismissed, according to court records.
After police asked for the public's help locating Bushman on a $100,000 arrest warrant, he turned himself into jail in Farmington on Wednesday. Bushman bailed out a few minutes later, said Davis County Sheriff's Sgt. DeAnn Servey.
