LOGAN — A 71-year-old substitute teacher was arrested early Friday on felony charges including aggravated kidnapping and multiple counts involving sexual activity with a minor after police found him with a 15-year-old boy in a closed city park, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Randy Lamar Jensen was taken into custody about 1 a.m. Nov. 6 by Logan City police officers. Investigators reported they contacted a vehicle near the baseball fields at Willow Park around 12:30 a.m. Parks close at 10 p.m. under city ordinance, making the pair’s presence trespassing, the affidavit said.
The vehicle was occupied by Jensen and a 15-year-old male. The teen told officers he had arranged to meet Jensen for sex and had communicated with him on Snapchat. The boy was taken home, where his mother consented to a search of his phone. Officers found Snapchat messages in which the teen sent Jensen at least three nude images, the affidavit said. The parents said they did not know their son had left the house.
A video on the phone showed Jensen engaging in sexual activity with the teen. The video was time-stamped 12:30 a.m. Nov. 6, according to the document.
Jensen admitted meeting the boy online, knowing he was under 18, and previously having sex with him at Jensen’s home after learning the teen’s age. He also admitted exchanging nude photographs with the minor, soliciting sex that night, engaging in sexual acts while knowing the boy was recording, and intentionally meeting and transporting the teen to the park to engage in unlawful sexual activity, the affidavit stated.
Jensen works as a substitute teacher for both the Cache County and Logan City school districts, Logan City police reported.
According to court documents, Jensen appeared Friday in Logan’s 1st District Court. He was charged with aggravated kidnapping, two counts of forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal solicitation of a minor, all first-degree felony; enticing a minor and thee counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies; and distributing material harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony.
Cache County deputy attorney Aaron Jossie said that substantial evidence supports the felony charges of a sexual nature involving a minor. He asked the court to revoke bail because Jensen has access to children through his teaching role and poses a danger to the community.
Judge Spencer Walsh assigned Jensen a public defender. He ordered the suspect to remain in jail and appear again in court Nov. 18.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.