LOGAN — A 54-year-old Smithfield man was sentenced Wednesday to one to 15 years in prison for sharing thousands of child sexual abuse files online following his arrest in December 2022.
David Max Gyllenskog declined to speak before 1st District Judge Brian Cannell ordered him to serve the term at the Utah State Correctional Facility with credit for time served. Gyllenskog previously pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
According to prosecutors, Logan police officers traced a computer sharing child sexual abuse material through a peer-to-peer file-sharing service in September 2022. Officers located nearly 2,000 images, mostly of girls approximately 4 to 17 years old. The files had been organized into folders with labels including “young strawberry,” “school,” “nymphets,” “LS,” “Lolita” and “angels.”
Investigators tracked the computer’s IP address to Gyllenskog’s home in Smithfield. Three months later, officers executed a search warrant at the home and seized several electronic devices. An initial search uncovered thousands of illegal images and videos, according to an arrest affidavit.
During questioning, Gyllenskog acknowledged intentionally accessing and downloading the files through peer-to-peer networks, court records state. He also admitted seeking images and videos of children age 10 or older and storing them on several devices.
Following his arraignment, Gyllenskog claimed he was illegally arrested and maintained there was no evidence to support the charges. In an email sent to radio station 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 the sentencing hearing, defense attorney Greg Skabelund requested leniency, noting Gyllenskog had no prior criminal record and had already spent 385 days in jail. Skabelund also said his client has autism and needs counseling.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Griffin Hazard disagreed and argued that Gyllenskog poses a high risk to reoffend, noting that investigators located 100,000 images and videos in total.
Judge Cannell said Gyllenskog’s mental health was not an excuse for his criminal conduct, adding that if there were not people desiring child sexual abuse material, the market would dry up.