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ST. GEORGE — A convicted sex offender who spent nine years in the Utah State Prison for kidnapping young girls in the Sandy area nearly two decades ago has been arrested again and placed on a 72-hour hold by Adult Probation and Parole as St. George police investigate new allegations.
In addition to having a 72-hour hold placed on him, Andrew James Gwilliam, 42, of St. George, was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility on Monday morning for investigation of two counts of violating the conditions of being a restricted sex offender, according to jail records. Specifically, he requested or invited a child to accompany him, according to police.
On Friday, police were called to the Little Valley area after Gwilliam allegedly asked two girls the previous day if they would help him clean a church, according to a statement from St. George police. The girls, both 8, were "selling jewelry on the corner of the street, and a male had approached them and asked them to go with him to clean a church," according to a police booking affidavit.
The girls told him, "No," police said. When the girls told their parents about the incident, one of their mothers showed her daughter and her friend pictures of registered sex offenders in the area and both of them pointed to Gwilliam, the affidavit states. The girls also told police on Monday that the same man had stopped by their jewelry stand a couple of days earlier and purchased several items, according to the affidavit.
The day after Gwilliam allegedly invited the girls to go with him to clean a church, the second girl's mother spotted him driving through their neighborhood. The woman and her husband then followed Gwilliam "and took a picture of the vehicle" and then "called the police, and officers responded to the scene," the affidavit states.
Police talked to Gwilliam who denied involvement. But "based on witness testimony, it is likely that Andrew had observed the girls beforehand, and had come back to the jewelry stand in an effort to take the girls, and had returned the following day to the area," officers wrote in their affidavit.
In 2002, Gwilliam was convicted of an amended charge of attempted forcible sexual abuse and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10 years to life in the Utah State Prison and is required to register with the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnap Offender Registry. Gwilliam was paroled in 2012.
In that case, police say Gwilliam kidnapped six girls and women at knifepoint or gunpoint over a seven-month period in the Sandy area, as they walked alone. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 20.
When Gwilliam was sentenced in 2003, a pre-sentence report noted that he apparently began to behave strangely after suffering a severe head injury while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His defense attorney at the time said his neurological problems could be treated with medication and therapy.
In 2015, he was arrested again for investigation of two counts of kidnapping after allegedly forcing two 14-year-old girls to go to a hotel with him where he sexually assaulted them. He was temporarily sent back to prison after his arrest for parole violation, but formal charges were never filed in that case due to a lack of evidence.
St. George police say the alleged incident this past weekend is a good reminder for parents to talk to their children about stranger danger, and if they see something suspicious, to contact police.
