As a child growing up in Richmond, my best friend's family were good friends with Ken Carlson. When I was at her house he was often there. I wondered why this 30-something man was single and lived with his grandma (found out later she was his mom who was quite old). I lived in Richmond from 1972-76 between the ages of 7-10
My friend and I and sometimes other kids would go over to Ken Carlson's house and play a game with him called "monster in the closet". I think it was like hide and seek, but the only hiding place was a closet in an upstairs bedroom (presumably his room). He would "hide". And we would open the closet door and he would jump out and scare us. Most adults find shrieks and screams of 9 year old children irritating, but he seemed to delight in it. I never went to Ken Carlson's house alone because he was more Karen's friend and her dad's friend.
Ken made these unique teeter totters of wood with a heavy tire base. They not only went up and down, but also spun around. A few people in town had them (including Karen's family). One day, Ken surprised my family by giving me one as a gift. He sold these for over $100 each. (in the 70's!). I wondered why my parents allowed me to accept such an expensive gift.
One day I was at Karen's house on a weekend. There were quite a few adults and kids laughing eating, playing outside and inside the house. Ken was chasing some of us kids around. A one point we were in a hallway and o one else was around. Ken caught me and grabbed me and "kissed" me, putting his tongue in my mouth. A this age i had no idea that a tongue might be used in a kiss. I just thought he was being gross and yucky like all boys! I expressed my discust and squirmed away to join the crowd in the backyard. I do not remember if it was later this same day or on another similar occasion at Karen's house, but once again at a large gathering, Ken was chasing the kids around. The family's swing set had a section where you could attach a trapeze bar or metal rings. The trapeze bar was on the swing set and the metal rings were just laying nearby. As Ken chased us through the backyard and house, I grabbed one of the rings and threw it at him in self defense. It hit him on the forehead and he exploded with rage. It was a side of him I had never seen. I was truly scared! I never really wanted to spend time with him after that.
I remember once as my parents had bought a home in Honeyville and we were planning to move, Ken took Karen and I without our parents knowledge or permission in his Volkswagen bug to see my new house (an hours drive each way in another county!). It began as just a trip in his car to get ice cream, then he "su. Prised" us by taking us to Honeyville so Karen could see where I was going to be living.
As I got older and understood the significance of these events, I often wondered if he was just a creepy guy, but harmless or if he had a slew of victims and i was extremely lucky.
Today I read an article by Emily Yoffe about some similar experiences she had as a child. I decided to google "Ken Carlson Richmond, UT". The name is not unusual, so I figured I would get nothing. What a shock to find reports that my experiences were not innocent one-time things but that he is now a known child molester. I guess I was VERY lucky! 40 years have passed since my days in Richmond! My heart aches thinking of how many innocent lives he has ruined in that time!
I wish our parents had seen the red flags (kids going over to a single man's house to play with him, expensive gifts, etc.). If I had simply mentioned how gross it was that "Ken Carlson put his tongue in my mouth, eeeww!" Certainly my mom would have been shocked. Would she have done anything? Would she have believed me? To all his victims, I say, I BELIEVE YOU! I am so sorry I was too naive to do anything or to even recognize that anything needed to be done.
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