A 38-year-old West Jordan man is facing a child kidnapping allegation after police say he picked up a 9-year-old boy riding an electric motorcycle in his own neighborhood, put him on the back of a blue Harley, and took him on an hour-long trip that ended at a stocked fishing pond in Sandy before bringing him home.
According to ABC4 Utah, the boy's mother contacted the West Jordan Police Department on September 23 to report that her son had gone missing with a stranger for roughly an hour the previous week. She told investigators she never met Edward Charles Brown and never gave him permission to take her son anywhere, the outlet reported.
Police say the boy was riding his electric motorcycle in the neighborhood on September 17 when Brown pulled up alongside him on his own motorcycle and offered him a ride. The boy was reported missing between 7:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. that evening, and neighbor surveillance footage reportedly captured Brown riding next to the child around 6:47 p.m., then showed the boy on the back of Brown's motorcycle just after 7 p.m.
Groceries, a Month of Familiarity, and a Ride to Sandy
Per the same account, the boy told police he had first met Brown about a month before the incident and had helped him carry groceries into his kitchen. He said he knew he wasn't supposed to get on the motorcycle but thought it would be cool, and that he and Brown rode to a park with a pond in Sandy and walked around.
Investigators identified the location as Sandy Pond, also known as the Sandy City Urban Fishery or Grandpa's Pond — a park with a stocked fishing pond at 900 West Shields Lane along the Jordan River, according to the Jordan River Commission. The city-run fishery sits next to a wetland restoration project that includes more than six acres; the site opened to the public at a May 8 ribbon-cutting, per Sandy Utah News.
Surveillance footage at the pond reportedly captured the child and Brown together in the parking lot around 7:42 p.m. that evening. Brown and the boy later returned to the West Jordan neighborhood around 8 p.m., the report states.
What Brown Told Police
West Jordan police located Brown in his neighborhood on a Monday and brought him in for questioning, per the same account. Brown reportedly told police he did not know the child's name, and said the boy had told him his father was home and that he was 10 years old.
Brown described riding alongside the boy's electric motorcycle, offering him a ride, and driving him through several neighborhoods before walking along the Jordan River and bringing him to the Sandy pond to look at fish. He said he told the boy not to go with others to the park the way they were doing, and that the boy told him he needed to be home before dark.
Brown said he then drove the boy back and intended to tell his parents about the outing, reportedly driving past the boy's house multiple times to try to get his father's attention. He maintained he would not take a child on a ride without permission, insisting he was a safe person to be with and did not harm or touch the boy, the outlet reported.
Felony Charge Carries Mandatory Minimum
Brown was booked into Salt Lake County Jail and is being held without bail on one count of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony, though he has not yet been formally charged. Under Utah Code Section 76-5-301.1, child kidnapping generally carries a prison term of 15 years to life, though an interests-of-justice exception allows a lesser term, including six years to life in specified circumstances. A conviction also requires registration for 10 years or life, with twice-yearly registration.
Under Utah's 2021 pretrial release reforms, judges are instructed to impose the least restrictive conditions needed to ensure public safety and court appearance, though detention without bail is available only in a narrow set of circumstances, per Cardon Stuart. Defendants detained on felony allegations usually have an initial appearance within 72 hours, where charges are read, according to Fillmore Spencer Law. For misdemeanor cases, arraignment and an initial plea occur at the initial appearance.
The West Jordan Police Department, which employs 102 sworn officers and more than 40 non-sworn support staff out of its headquarters on South Redwood Road, confirmed that an adult man with a blue Harley motorcycle registered to him lived at the residence identified in the investigation, per the IACP Career Center profile. West Jordan is Utah's third-largest city, with a population exceeding 115,000 across 32 square miles of Salt Lake County.
It remains unclear whether the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has filed formal charges against Brown or what the outcome of his initial court appearance will be.
