PROVO, Utah, April 5, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Springville man and religious youth leader was arrested Tuesday after images of child pornography were discovered on his cellphone, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit say the 54-year-old man had child pornography depicting boys ages 8 to 16 on his cellphone, according to a probable cause statement filed in Provo’s 4th District Court.
Following his arrest, the man told police he serves as a youth adviser to Deacons in his church. Deacon is priesthood title generally held by 12- and 13-year-old boys in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“(The man) has a position in his church where he works with young men and boys in the same age range as those depicted in the pictures found on his phone,” according to a news release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Gephardt Daily has chosen not to use the man’s name to protect the identify of potential victims.
Detectives began investigating the man on March 29 after receiving a report from the man’s employer that child pornography was found in the browser history of his cellphone, according to the probable cause statement.
The next day, police interviewed the man at work and seized his cellphone, court documents state. Detectives discovered four images of child pornography on the phone, resulting in his arrest for investigation of four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
He was booked into the Utah County Jail on Tuesday. Bail was set at $5,000.
nothing new here folks