LOGAN — A 22-year-old Logan man arrested and charged with downloading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has accepted a plea deal in two cases. Wyatt James Anderson was originally arrested last fall after police discovered the illegal material on his phone.
According to court records, Anderson appeared Feb. 9 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to three amended counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, a third-degree felony; and lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor. Seven remaining charges were dismissed.
According to prosecutors, the investigation began on Sept. 26 when a Logan City police officer served a search warrant to extract contents from Anderson’s phone. When the forensic analysis was completed on Sept. 29, the officer located a single image containing child pornography and immediately halted the search to obtain a second warrant for illegal files.
Once the new warrant was granted, the officer located 20 more files of child sexual abuse material on the cell phone, according to court documents.
On Oct. 4, officers responded to Anderson’s apartment to arrest him. When advised of the charges, Anderson cut himself with a pair of scissors in an attempt to end his life. Officers quickly applied pressure to the wound and called for an ambulance.
While waiting for medical responders, Anderson started discussing the files, telling police the images were stored in the “locked folder” of his Google Photos and saved from “verified” websites.
After being treated at the hospital, Anderson was interviewed by the arresting officer.
Documents state Anderson admitted to using Reddit and other websites to view pornography. He claimed that when he found images that appeared to depict underage girls, he would “do a reverse search and find an adult actor on a reputable website to confirm they were an adult.”
Anderson allegedly admitted to investigators that this verification method “had been unsuccessful at times.”
According to court records, Anderson remains in the Cache County Jail being held without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 23, and could face more than five years in prison.