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DRAPER — A Draper man arrested last month for allegedly luring a 4-year-old girl into his apartment and sexually abusing her has now been charged and rearrested thanks to DNA evidence.
John Richard Seymour, 67, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with aggravated sex abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
On April 1, a woman had her 4-year-old daughter take the mail to Seymour, who rented her basement apartment. When her daughter failed to return a short time later, police say the mother went looking for her.
She told investigators she knocked loudly on Seymour's door several times with no response. The mother then opened the door and called out to her daughter. Seymour responded by saying, "Just a minute," according to charging documents.
Inside, the woman found her partially dressed daughter holding a piece of candy, the charges state. Seymour told the mother "he was not sure why" her daughter took her pants off, according to the charges.
Seymour was originally arrested for investigation of child kidnapping and sexual abuse of a child on April 1, but no charges were filed. Since his first arrest, Draper police have received DNA evidence from the Utah State Crime Lab that found "an overwhelming" amount of evidence against Seymour, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Seymour was being held Monday on $500,000 bail.
Police say Seymour has been investigated in at least two other incidents.
In one, a witness reported seeing him at a park giving brownies to a 4-year-old girl who was alone, the report states. A bystander found the activity to be suspicious and called police. That case was later closed and it was determined that no crime had been committed.
In the other incident, Seymour was investigated for allegedly touching another young girl inappropriately in West Jordan, the report states.
