A 74-year-old registered sex offender has been released from police custody after it was discovered that he had been taking part in children’s activities at a farmers market 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, Law And Crime reports.
Earlier this month, detectives from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Lehi Farmers Market, which was reported to be operating in violation of Utah County code and zoning ordinances. According to police, many of the activities there are “oriented toward children,” including a petting zoo, rides on trailers towed by a tractor, and “candy drops” from a helicopter.
During the investigation, detectives discovered that Larry Neff Jarvis, a registered sex offender, was one of the people operating the market. Jarvis was convicted of two counts of attempted sexual assault in 1995, and has been listed on the Sex Offender Registry since.
Despite his last known residence being in Saratoga Springs, Jarvis has not lived there for at least the last three months. State law requires those in the registry to update their address within three days of relocating, which he has failed to do. Investigators say that Jarvis can be seen on social media dressed as Elmo from the show “Sesame Street,” interacting with multiple children.
On April 14th, detectives with the Special Victims Unit went to the property Jarvis has been living at in violation of state law and arrested him. He was charged with one count of failing to update his sex offender registry address and one count of sex offender violation in a protected area. He was released less than two hours later on a $5,000 bond.
