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Salt Lake City man charged after buying cell phone for 11-year-old, sexually abusing her

Posted at 8:38 PM, Jan 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-09 22:44:15-05

SALT LAKE CITY – A Salt Lake City man was charged Tuesday, for allegedly giving an 11-year-old a cell phone, and committing a litany of sexual acts against her.

Bobbie Joe Sharp, 60, was charged for two counts of rape of a child, three counts of sodomy on a child, one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and, “entice solicit seduce or lure a minor by internet or text.” Six charges are first degree felonies, while the seventh is a second degree felony.

In a probable cause statement released as part of Sharp’s indictment, police were alerted by a neighbor that Sharp, who lives in Salt Lake County, gave her granddaughter a cell phone around Thanksgiving of 2017.

The grandmother showed police the cell phone, which contained sexually explicit messages from Sharp to the female victim. Police said that Sharp suggested that he and the victim should, “take a shower together,” and perform a variety of adult acts. The victim was said to be 11-years-old at the time of the abuse, which the victim told police was from around June 2017 to Dec. of that year.

The victim stated that Sharp had “dated her,” and even asked her to marry him.  Investigators said that she told them Sharp would take her to his apartment, where he would force her to perform a variety of sexual acts. She said that on another occasion, Sharp took her to the woods near their apartment complex, where he attempted to have sex with her.

The victim told police that the last time her and Sharp met, he took her into the shower, and that, “he wouldn’t stop even after she told him to stop.”

A warrant was issued for Sharp’s arrest, and he was booked into Salt Lake County Jail.  Bail was set for $150,000.