COALVILLE, Utah — A homeless man accused of molesting an 11-year-old relative is being investigated by Summit County authorities in other abuses and two possible abduction attempts.
Billy Dan Clark, 37, is charged with three counts of forcible sex abuse, two counts of dealing in material harmful to a minor and two counts of lewdness involving a child.
He is being held in the county jail on $1 million cash-only bond, said sheriff's Chief Deputy Dave Booth.
Up to eight children in Summit and Wasatch counties may have been molested, Booth said.
He said the FBI has been asked to investigate as federal charges can carry longer sentences.
Clark was arrested Aug. 28 after a caller reported seeing him acting suspiciously near a Coalville park.
The responding deputy obtained permission to search his car and found pornography, Booth said, then questioned Clark further and arrested him.
"We interviewed him and obtained quite a few different confessions," Booth said, for offenses including abuse of the 11-year-old.
The boy told authorities he was touched inappropriately and shown pornography while on a camping trip with Clark in the Mirror Lake area, according to a criminal complaint filed in 3rd District Court.
In addition, authorities have linked Clark to attempted abductions in south Summit County last winter, he said.
Clark was under suspicion at the time, but police could not prove he was involved.
A native of Summit County who mostly lived out of his car or at motels, Clark has no criminal history beyond traffic offenses, he said.
Clark has been cooperative, has acknowledged he has a problem and said he wants help for it, Booth said.
Clark is to appear in court Sept. 21 before 3rd District Judge Bruce Lubeck.