SOUTH OGDEN, Utah — A 23-year-old man was arrested Thursday after he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl and made threats, causing her and her family to feel unsafe, investigators said.
According to an affidavit of probable cause released in 2nd District Court in Weber County, police were notified in August of 2018 that Paul Richard Protzman may have been engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.
The girl’s parents told police that the “observed behavior” that indicated Protzman and the girl were engaging in the activity, the affidavit said.
Investigators were provided a phone that Protzman had given the girl by her parents, according to the affidavit.
On Wednesday, officers spoke with the girl, who allegedly admitted that Protzman had sent her multiple sexually explicit pictures, the affidavit stated, and told investigators that she believed he was having sexual relations with another 15-year-old.
“The 15 year old that I was interviewing and her parents were all concerned for their safety,” according to the affidavit.
On Thursday, officers picked up Protzman after he made suicidal threats to another 15-year-old girl, police stated. He allegedly had a handgun in his possession at the time he was contacted by police.
Protzman was interviewed by South Ogden police, and admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the 15-year-old ” 20 plus time between the time period of
June 16, 2018 and November of 2018,” police wrote.
The Weber County Sheriff’s Office was also working on a separate case involving a different 15-year-old that “disclosed she was raped by Paul,” the affidavit stated.
Prior to his arrest, Protzman allegedly sent an email stating that “Rumors need to be silenced, or he will silence them himself,” the affidavit said.
Protzman was booked into the Weber County Jail for ten counts of unlawful activity with a minor, all third-degree felonies, and three counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, also third-degree felonies.
