LOGAN — A 21-year-old Logan man was arrested and charged with multiple felonies after a police officer, serving a warrant for an unrelated investigation, allegedly discovered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his phone.
Wyatt James Anderson has been charged with 10 counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor. He was arraigned Monday afternoon in Logan’s 1st District Court.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the investigation began on Sept. 26 when a Logan City Police officer served a search warrant to extract contents from Anderson’s phone for a separate case. When the forensic analysis was completed on Sept. 29, the officer allegedly 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 allegedly 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 allegedly 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.”
He was arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail, where he is currently being held without bail.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.