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LAYTON — The story of a 10-year-old girl who with two friends ran into a Subway restaurant to get help is enough to frighten any parent.
Police say Chad Dee Flitton followed the girls, even walking into the Subway behind them. One of the girls' mother, Tammi Smith told KSL Wednesday that her daughter said Flitton had been stalking her over the past couple of weeks.
"It's appalling," Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said of the case. "The fact that a child is too scared to even go outside because you've got a grown man stalking them."
Layton police said Flitton admitted to following the girls near the intersection of Gentile Street and Fairfield Road. Officers also said he has a lengthy criminal record, including past charges of sexual battery and voyeurism. Still, Flitton has so far managed to avoid a space on Utah's Sex Offender Registry.
"You see that a lot. Criminals are very smart that way," Ray said. "I mean, this guy understood where the lines were, and he made sure that he kept his offenses below that line that would have put him on the registry."
Ray already has plans to change that. Thursday morning, he drafted the beginnings of a bill that he'll take to the Legislature next February.
"What I'm going to try to do is make a habitual offender clause," Ray explained. "If somebody has a series of minor events that don't typically put you on, but the totality shows that they're a predator, we could allow a prosecutor to request the court, based on the conglomerates of all the evidence to say this person is a predator and should be put on the list."
Ray said he has already been in communication with Smith about the idea and plans to talk with her throughout the process.
"I'm surprised we haven't had to do this yet," Ray added. "This will hopefully help law enforcement and give some comfort to the family that we can actually stop individuals like this."
