LOGAN — A 19-year-old Hyrum man has been arrested on 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after an investigation into child sexual abuse material and AI-generated explicit images, authorities said.
Alex Jackson Skaug was booked into the Cache County Jail on Tuesday evening by Logan City Police officers. He faces 10 counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor.
The investigation began in March, when a social media company submitted a CyberTipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding an account uploading suspected child sexual abuse material. The report was subsequently forwarded to the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and assigned to a Logan police detective.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, an initial review of the tip identified subscriber information and 13 files confirmed to contain child sexual abuse material. Through search warrants and court orders, investigators traced the IP address used to download and receive the illicit content back to Skaug’s residence.
While executing search warrants and reviewing digital media from the account, investigators located personal photos of Skaug that confirmed he was the primary account user. Officers also discovered original photographs of Skaug alongside various females paired with artificially generated, identical versions of the same images, which had been digitally altered to expose the females’ breasts and genitalia.
In total, police reported that the recovered files and videos depict children between the ages of 7 and 17 engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Skaug made an initial appearance Wednesday in 1st District Court, appearing by web conference from the Cache County Jail.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Ronnie Keller asked the court to hold Skaug, arguing that the severity of the charges and the evidence establish that he poses a substantial danger to the community.
Judge Brian Cannell assigned Skaug a public defender and ordered him to remain in jail until Aug. 24, when attorneys can further argue bail.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.