Provo man arrested after allegedly arranging to ‘hook up’ with 13-year-old girl

File photo: Pixabay/ Ashby C. Sorensen

LEHI, Utah, Nov. 1, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A Provo man has been arrested after he allegedly arranged to meet a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl in Lehi.

A probable cause statement from Utah County said Alexis Misael Ziga, 29, is facing charges of:

  • Entice a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony
  • Sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony
  • Tampering with evidence, a class A misdemeanor

On Oct. 29, Ziga allegedly engaged in an online conversation on a popular social media application with what he believed was a 13-year-old female, but was in fact an undercover FBI agent, the statement said.

“During the discussion, Alexis discussed ‘hooking up’ and talked about the victim’s sexual experiences,” the statement said. “Alexis asked about when dad would be home and told the victim that he ‘won’t do anything that hurts’ and will ‘stop when it does’ or ‘if it does.’ He also promised to use a condom.”

The FBI Child Exploitation Task Force arrested Ziga after he drove to the arranged meeting location. Investigators interviewed him after he waived his right to council and he told investigators that “he thought he made a mistake but wasn’t planning to actually meet the girl and that he just wanted to see if she was there or if it was a trap and when he saw cars he believed to be unmarked police officers he tried to leave the area,” the statement said.

When he was pulled over he stated that he deleted the app that he used to chat with the victim, the statement said.

During the interview, Ziga allegedly admitted to seeking out pornographic images of underage girls on a dark web browser. He stated that he searched for these photos three to four times and sometimes he would see what he described as a thumbnail or smaller pornographic image of a minor. He estimated the age of the minor to be 15 years old, and mentioned that there were links that said 12-14 and others similar. Alexis said that he tried to click the images, and they wouldn’t open, but he did try multiple times to open the files to see larger pictures.

Ziga was transported to Utah County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

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