LOGAN — A 27-year-old Logan man who drove to a local park to try and have sex with an undercover police officer, posing as a 12-year-old girl, is headed to prison. Chayce Edward Martin, who has been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested in October 2022, said he regretted the pain he had caused his family.
Martin was sentenced Monday, May 21, in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to an amended count of attempted sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony; and enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony.
According to prosecutors, on Oct. 9, 2022, Martin began messaging an undercover officer with the Logan City Police Department, who was posing as a young girl on a popular messaging app. He immediately began engaging in a sexually explicit conversation, asking to meet in person.
Throughout the graphic messages, Martin said he wanted to meet up with the girl to “teach and train” her to engage in various acts. The conversations continued even though the officer identified themselves as a 12-year-old girl multiple times, police reported.
On Oct. 11, 2022, Martin asked to the meet the officer at a park. Law enforcement set up a perimeter around the location and waited for the defendant to show up. He had instructed the officer to wait at the park so he could drive past and make sure she was real.
Officers utilized a young petite female employee of the police department as a decoy Martin could see when he arrived at the park. At the determined time, he arrived at the location and drove past the decoy several times. He then pulled up near her and waved at her to get inside his vehicle. Police immediately converged on the car and took him into custody without incident.
The case had been scheduled for a three day jury trial in March 2023, before Martin pleaded guilty. Sentencing had been delayed while he underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation.
During Monday’s sentencing, defense attorney Cameron Cox asked the court to consider sentencing Martin to treatment instead of prison. He explained how the defendant didn’t have a criminal history, and had been trying to better himself in jail.
Martin said he felt sorry for the embarrassment he had caused his family. He expressed a desire to continue changing his life for the better.
Judge Spencer Walsh said Martin’s words were encouraging but noted that the Logan man still had to pay the price for what he did. He told the defendant, protecting the public and sending a message of deterrent were a priority for him.
Martin was ordered to serve three years to life and one year to life for the two charges he was convicted of, while being given credit for 587 days already served in jail. The two terms will run concurrently.