LOGAN — A 20-year-old Hyrum man has been sentenced to jail and probation for sharing child sexual abuse material through several social media apps and other websites. Shayde David Kerr was originally arrested in December after law enforcement served a search warrant to his home.
According to court records, Kerr appeared Aug. 6 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, amended to a second-degree felony. Eight remaining charges were dismissed.
Cache County Sheriff’s deputies received four cyber-tips in August 2024, reporting an individual was sharing images of child sexual abuse material online, according to prosecutors. The information was forwarded to local law enforcement by the Utah Office of the Attorney General.
The tips were submitted by Discord, Snapchat and two from Google. All three companies had detected a user saving child pornography on their servers.
Deputies obtained a warrant to search the accounts. They found 12 pictures of minors. The photos showed various girls, some as young as 8 or 9-years-old, being exploited or sexually abused.
Law enforcement obtained the usernames and email addresses for the various accounts, and found they were all registered to Kerr. The IP address was also tracked to the defendant’s residence.
On Dec. 4, 2024, Kerr was observed leaving his home and stopped while traveling toward Logan. He was taken into custody for questioning but invoked his right to an attorney and did not answer any questions.
Deputies obtained a warrant to search Kerr’s bedroom, taking two computers and other miscellaneous electronics as evidence.
During Kerr’s sentencing hearing, Judge Brian Cannell ordered the Hyrum man to serve 245 days in jail, giving credit for time already served, and 100 hours of community service.
Kerr was also ordered to be placed on probation for 48 months. During that time he will be prohibited from having unapproved access to the internet. He was also barred from having any contact with minors.