LOGAN — A 22-year-old former Utah State University student has been sentenced to prison for using a popular social media app to download child pornography. Elijah Benjamin Maddocks was arrested Feb. 13, following an investigation by the Logan City Police Department.
Court records show, Maddocks was sentenced Oct. 21 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony; and five counts of enticing a minor, a second-degree felony. As part of the resolution, 17 remaining charges were dismissed.
According to prosecutors, Logan police officers received a cybertip from Snapchat in December 2023. The messaging app reported a user had uploaded a file that later was determined to be child sexual abuse material.
Police obtained a warrant to search the Snapchat account that was registered to Maddocks. They found multiple images of female children between the ages of 6 and 16-years-old. The girls were nude or partially clothed, and engaged in various sex acts.
Several chats were also located between Maddocks and teenage individuals. The chats were sexual in nature and often about exchanging naked images.
Logan police contacted the Utah State University Police Department, who confirmed there was an Elijah Maddocks attending the school. Officers arrested the defendant as he was exiting his apartment.
While being questioned, Maddocks reportedly admitted to viewing and possessing child pornography. He said, he was curious about children and age did not matter to him. He later confessed to sharing “several hundred” files of child sexual abuse material with other people online.
During Monday’s sentencing, Judge Spencer Walsh ordered Maddocks to serve six-years-to-life at the Utah State Correctional Facility. He also recommended the defendant undergo Sex Offender Treatment as soon as possible.