Youth soccer coach arrested following sexually explicit chats with undercover officer, police say

File photo: Gephardt Daily

LOGAN, Utah, March 31, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Cache County youth soccer coach has been arrested after police say he engaged in sexual conversations and shared explicit photos and videos with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Jorge Alejandro Cruz, who coaches the Sky View High School boys’ soccer team, was arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of four counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor and three counts of enticing a minor by internet or text, all third-degree felonies.

Logan police say Cruz, 48, began engaging in sexually explicit chats with the undercover officer on Dec. 14 through a popular online messaging app, according to a probable cause statement filed Thursday in Logan’s 1st District Court.

“Within minutes of beginning to chat with me, Jorge asked how young I was,” the undercover officer writes in the probable cause statement. “I told him I was in 8th grade.”

The conversations then became sexually explicit, police say.

The probable cause statement details 10 sexually explicit conversations between Cruz and the undercover officer from Dec. 14 to Feb. 9. During a chat on Dec. 15, the undercover officer told Cruz they were 13 years old, according to the statement.

Cruz also shared sexually explicit pictures and videos in an online group that included the undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old, police said. He then privately messaged the undercover officer about the pictures and videos, and requested nude pictures in return, according to the statement.

During a private chat Feb. 3, Cruz allegedly described inappropriate contact with a girl “after our game,” causing deep concern for investigators.

“Jorge Alejandro Cruz is a youth soccer coach for multiple teams, including a local high school,” the undercover officer stated. “Because of Jorge’s position as a soccer coach, he is in a position of trust to multiple minors in the community and has easy access to them.”

The conversations ceased on Feb. 9, when Cruz expressed concern that he may be chatting with an undercover police officer. Police served a warrant on Cruz’s account with the messaging app and later identified him through his email address.

Cruz is being held in the Cache County Jail on $40,000 bail. Attempts to reach the Cache County School District for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

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