UTAH COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 23, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah County man is facing multiple felony charges after images of child pornography allegedly were found on his cellphone.
Cole Sidney Peterson, 23, of Highland, has been charged with 10 counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a probable cause statement filed by an officer with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
In December 2020, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a residential search warrant at a home in Holladay. That suspect was arrested and, during a search of his cellphone, agents discovered that he was a part of two different private messaging groups where child pornography was posted and distributed on the chatting application with other users.
Agents accessed the groups and identified numerous accounts. Pursuant to a search warrant, agents learned that one of the suspect accounts is owned by Peterson.
As a result of the search warrant, Peterson’s account was reviewed and showed “selfie photos of himself along with a large amount of evidence of child pornography in this account,” the document states.
The child pornography found in Peterson’s account showed female children ranging in age between 3 and 9 being raped and sexually abused in various ways, according to the statement.
“On January 20, 2021, Cole Petetson was contacted at his home in Utah County. Post Miranda Warning, Peterson confirmed that the discovered chatting app account was his account,” the statement says. “Screen-shot photos of the account were also shown to Peterson which he confirmed was his chat account that contained child pornography.”
Peterson allegedly declined to answer questions about the child pornography, and stated that he primarily uses his cell phone to access the chatting application. According to the statement, he refused to provide the pin code when asked.
Because Peterson lives in close proximity to childen in the same age range as those picured in the images found, the Utah Attorney General’s Office – ICAC Task Force requested a high bail set at $500,000.
Peterson was booked into the Utah County jail with his bail set at $90,090, subject to conditions.
