Kendrick Zavaleta Ramirez jail booking photo. (Photo: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 21-year-old Logan man has pleaded guilty to chatting with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl, and later trying to meet up for sex at a local park. Kendrick Zavaleta-Ramirez was arrested in February and later released from the Cache County Jail on bail.
Wednesday, Zavaleta was in 1st District Court for a change of plea hearing. He accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to six counts of enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony.
On Feb. 7, Zavaleta contacted a detective with the Logan City Police Department, who was posing as a teenage girl on Omegle. The chat site allows users to connect with random strangers.
Zavaleta identified himself to the detective as an 18-year-old Logan man, and began describing how he was looking for sex. He asked to meet near a park in Logan, while continuing to ask sexually charged questions.
Police went to the park and waited. A short time later, a vehicle with a sole male occupant arrived and the Zavaleta texted that he was there.
Officers surrounded the vehicle and took the defendant into custody without incident.
During questioning, he admitted that he was at the park to meet with a girl he had been chatting with online. When confronted about the supposed girl being at teenager, he stated that he misread the age “13” as “18”.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Zavaleta told the court he was willing to waive his rights to a fair trial and plead guilty to the charges.
Judge Brian Cannell ordered Zavaleta to be jailed again due to the charges he had admitted to. He also scheduled sentencing for Jan. 18.
Zavaleta was placed in handcuffs by jail deputies and taken into custody. He could face up to 15 years in prison at sentencing.
will@cvradio.com