An 18-year-old man investigators described as being "emotionally immature" was arrested after allegedly assaulting three girls near a school playground.
The girls, ranging in age from 9 to 10, were outside West Kearns Elementary School, 4900 S. 4620 West, this past week when a man on a bicycle entered the playground.
The man talked to the girls and then allegedly touched them in a sexual manner, according to a report from the Salt Lake County Jail. He then allegedly displayed what the girls thought were two knives "and said that he would hurt them if they told anyone," according to the report.
The girls were scared and began to walk home but the man followed them for a short distance before eventually riding past them and leaving, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Jaroscak.
The next day one of the girl's parents spotted the man, followed him home and called the sheriff's office, he said.
Deputies took the man in for questioning. He told them, "he likes to play with kids" and apparently thought he was playing tag with the girls, according to the jail report.
When asked about the alleged knives, the man said he had a pair of compasses with sharp points. But he then admitted to investigators that he told the girls "that he could poke them but their blood wasn't worth it."
The man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of three counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count of aggravated assault.