One of Elizabeth Smart’s abductors has been arrested for violating the conditions of her release by visiting multiple parks in Utah.
On Thursday, Wanda Barzee, 79, was arrested by the Salt Lake City Police. The police told PEOPLE that Barzee was being charged with “one count of violating Utah’s law restricting registered sex offenders from entering protected areas, including public parks.”
It is alleged that Barzee visited two different parks in Salt Lake City, including Liberty Park and Sugar House Park. According to a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police, Brent Weisberg, this constitutes a violation of state law due to Barzee’s prior conviction.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Barzee conspired with her husband, Brian David Mitchell, who kidnapped Smart from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. Mitchell held Smart, then 14, at knifepoint in her own bedroom and forced her out of her home in the middle of the night.
Barzee not only helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart, but she also stood by as the girl was sexually assaulted by her husband.
On September 19, 2018, Barzee, then 72, was released from Utah State Prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper after serving only 15 years.
Court records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Barzee is no longer in custody for her recent violation and that her release came on judicial orders.
[Feature Photo via Utah Department of Corrections]
