SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 19, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A former Utah legislator was arrested Tuesday and is facing charges relating to child pornography.
Jeffrey Vern Fox, 74, of Salt Lake City, was taken into custody by the Internet Crimes Against Children task force and was booked into the Salt Lake County jail, where he is under investigation for eight second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake County, the investigation into the current allegations began in July 2021 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received reports that multiple files of child pornography were uploaded to one of their user accounts.
It was found that most of the IP addresses were in Utah, so the report was forwarded to the Utah Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The results of a search warrant for the report showed that Fox was the owner of the suspect account, which contained multiple images of child pornography, the charging document states.
Fox, who served in the Utah Legislature from 1997 to 1982, is a registered sex offender, having been previously convicted in federal court for possession of child pornography. In 2013, he was placed on federal probation for 15 years; however, his probation was terminated in 2019 for completing the terms of his sentence.
He is currently in jail on a no-bail hold.
