LOGAN — A 45-year-old New Jersey man remains in the Cache County Jail after allegedly sexting with a Logan girl last spring. Paul T. Carroll was arrested Dec 14, two months after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
According to court records, Carroll appeared Jan. 8 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He was previously charged with one count of enticing a minor, a second-degree felony; and two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony.
Defense attorney Tony Baird said he was still gathering information in the case and had not decided whether or not to request a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors would present their evidence. He asked for the court to consider allowing Carroll to be released on bail while the case continues to proceed through the court system.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Joshua Coe disagreed, and said the defendant should remain in jail.
Judge Brian Cannell noted there was no change in circumstances and left the warrant in place against Carroll.
According to the warrant affidavit, Logan City Police officers were called to Logan Regional Hospital on April 15, to investigate a child sex abuse report. The young girl had told medical staff, she had been raped by someone she thought was a 26-year-old man that she had met online.
The victim’s mother provided officers with several laptop computers the girl had allegedly used to communicate with the suspect online. The chats, through an app called Say Hi, were sexual in nature and included the man sending the girl a picture and video of his genitals.
Police were able to track the account ID used on the app to an IP address in New Jersey. The user information was tracked to a Paul Carroll of Helmetta, New Jersey.
Logan City police contacted the Jamesburg Police Department in New Jersey and learned that Carroll was a registered sex offender, previously convicted of attempting to meet with a child.
Working with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, a search warrant was drafted for Carroll’s home. Police found several of the items seen in the background of the photo and video the victim had been sent.
Previously it was reported that Carroll had traveled to Logan to have sex with the victim. However, Coe later clarified that the victim was allegedly raped by another individual, and Carroll is suspected of only communicating with the young girl online.
Carroll will appear again in court Jan. 29. He could face more than 15 years in prison, if convicted.