Salt Lake man accused of soliciting teen girl at high school wrestling meet

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City man is being accused of soliciting a teen girl at a high school wrestling competition four years ago.

The 61-year-old man was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with criminal solicitation, a third-degree felony.

A girl who was 16 in 2019 says she was attending a wrestling tournament at West High School and sitting by herself in the bleachers when the defendant, who was also alone, asked if she wanted to sit next to him, according to charging documents.

As the two talked, the man asked the teen if she was there to see her boyfriend, to which she replied, "No," she was there because a friend had asked her to come, the charges state.

But the girl said the man's conversation soon became sexually driven, asking her what kind of underwear she was wearing and then questioning why she would come to see her friend wrestle and not have sex with him after, charging documents state. He then told the girl that he wanted to take her out and "that he had money, and he could treat her better than a teenage boy," the charges state.

The man continuously told the girl she was pretty and that "you either have to have sex with (your friend), or you have to have sex with me," according to the charges.

A second girl told police that when she arrived at the wrestling meet, she saw the man and girl talking and heard him talking about sending nude pictures, the charges state. The girl "then intervened" and had the teen sit next to her.

Court records do not indicate why charges are being filed four years after the alleged event.

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