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North Salt Lake girl sexually assaulted at park

Posted at 9:31 PM, Apr 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-12 23:31:59-04

NORTH SALT LAKE — Police met with concerned residents after reports a young girl was sexually assaulted in the Foxboro neighborhood.

Police said they learned about the assault on Monday evening, several hours after it happened. The victim is between the ages of 8 and 11 years old.

So far in their investigation, police have heard several accounts of what may have happened.

In one possible scenario, they believe the victim may have been assaulted in a park by a boy in her age range.

“She didn’t know who this boy was. She doesn’t know him from school. She doesn’t know him from the neighborhood,” said North Salt Lake Police Chief Craig Black. “She’s traumatized physically as well as emotionally.”

They don’t have a description of a possible suspect and have not said in which park the attack may have occurred.

Because violent crimes like this, committed by strangers are extremely rare, they want to the public to be more aware of the possible danger.

“If this kind of predatory behavior is going on, they want to know what to do to protect themselves and their family,” Black said.

Black and several other officers sat down with parents for more than an hour to update them on the investigation.

“It’s always startling to hear about a crime in your neighborhood,” said Melanie Vernon, who is a mother of four children. “As a community, we can come together as neighbors and keep an eye on everybody’s kids.”

Police are not releasing details about the other scenarios that are being investigated.

“I don’t want to go into what those are just because we don’t feel like they are pertinent to the safety of the community at this point,” Black said.

Detectives plan to speak with the victim again in the coming days.

She has been treated and released from the hospital.