Robert Paul Walker (Utah Department of Public Safety).
A Virginia man is behind bars in Utah after playing a sexually predatory game of “truth or dare” with a group of preteen boys, authorities in the Beehive State say.
Robert Paul Walker, 42, stands accused of one count of failure to register as a sex offender, one count of tampering with a witness, and five counts of lewdness involving a child, according to the Saratoga Springs Police Department.
Police say the father of some of the alleged victims was aware of the defendant’s troubled past involving similar crimes.
The defendant was arrested this week, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by Salt Lake City-based ABC affiliate KTVX.
Police allege several victims between the ages of 10 and 12 were at a party hosted by Walker. During the party, the defendant is said to have encouraged the boys to play truth or dare – with the dares allegedly escalating into inappropriate territory, witnesses told police.
Walker also had the victims play another game with him called the “touch your body challenge,” police. This game allegedly featured the removal of clothing and performing sexual acts.
The defendant is a registered sex offender due to a 2005 sexual battery conviction in the Old Dominion, according to a registry maintained by the Utah Department of Public Safety.
The probable cause affidavit notes Walker’s status – and says the father of two boys was well aware of the defendant’s history.
That father told police he had known Walker for some nine years, according to the affidavit. During that time, the defendant revealed his criminal history as a sex offender, the father said. The father also told investigators he believed Walker had an addition to viewing child sexual abuse material. The father went on to say the defendant had been living with his family, on and off, since April and that Walker would occasionally check his children out of school, police say.
Walker, however, recently admitted to the father that he had been grooming the two children, authorities allege. The father allegedly told investigators he now regretted trusting the defendant and allowing the registered sex offender to be around his children.
After the inappropriate games, Walker allegedly implored some of the victims not to tell anyone what happened or he would go to jail, according to court documents cited by Salt Lake City-based CBS affiliate KUTV.
The lewdness charges are class A misdemeanors; the registration violation and the witness tampering charges are felonies in the third degree. Walker faces the possibility of just under 15 years in prison if sentenced as presently charged.
The defendant is currently being detained in the Utah County Jail without bail.
Authorities requested no bail because they believe Walker may be a flight risk.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
