LOGAN — A 51-year-old Smithfield man, already facing charges of sharing child pornography, has been placed in jail again. David Max Gyllenskog was taken into custody by courtroom bailiffs, after prosecutors claimed the defendant was disobeying court orders.
Gyllenskog appeared Wednesday morning in 1st District Court. He was previously charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony; and 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
In September, Logan City Police officers traced a computer sharing child pornography through a file peer-to-peer service, according to court documents. Nearly 2000 images were located, mostly of female children approximately 4 to 17-years-old. The photos had been organized into folders with labels like: young strawberry, school, nymphets, LS, Lolita and angels.
Police obtained an IP address of the computer using the file sharing software. They tracked it to Gyllenskog’s Smithfield home.
In December, officers served a warrant to the residence and seized several electronic devices. An initial search uncovered thousands of illegal images and videos, according to the arrest affidavit.
During questioning, Gyllenskog reportedly acknowledged to intentionally accessing and downloading the files through the peer-to-peer networks. He also admitted to seeking images and videos of children 10 years of age or older, and storing them on several electronic devices.
Following Gyllenskog’s arrest, Judge Brian Cannell set bail at $10,000. As a condition of release, he ordered the defendant to be placed on pre-trial supervision with probation agents and have no access to the internet.
Gyllenskog has claimed he was illegally arrested and there is no evidence to support the charges. In an email sent to News Talk KVNU, he wrote, “The very worst thing I allegedly could have done was unknowingly download one or two files planted by the FBI from an otherwise trustworthy site.” He also called the arresting officer a “deranged sexual deviant.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, Cache County Deputy Attorney Andrew Crane explained how Gyllenskog had not contacted probation agents since being released. He also said, the defendant had been using the internet, posting a photo on social media of the arresting officer in the case.
Judge Cannell revoked Gyllenskog’s bail, for failing to follow the court’s guidelines. He ordered him to remain in jail and appear again in court May 31.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.