Salt Lake man accused of sexually abusing 'multiple children'

James Gerald Crawford, 43, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of five counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, sex abuse of a child, lewdness involving a child, and sodomy on a child.

An officer conducting an investigation ended up talking to Crawford who "confessed to multiple counts of sexual abuse on multiple children" who were under 13 years old, police wrote in a Salt Lake County Jail report.

At least one of the victims is a child he was baby-sitting, the report states.

Crawford "initially admitted that he had been doing this since his 20s, then later stated that the abuse had been occurring from 2007 to 2017," the report states.

Salt Lake police say the alleged victims are not related to Crawford, but it was unclear Friday how he came in contact with them.

In 2014, Crawford was charged with forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, for allegedly abusing a 6-year-old girl he was baby-sitting. But during a preliminary hearing, a judge determined that not enough evidence had been presented to send the case to trial and the case was dismissed.