LOGAN — A 26-year-old south Salt Lake man has been sentenced to prison for driving to Logan to meet an undercover officer, who he had been chatting with about sexually abusing children. Giovanni Edward Robles-Montalvo was ordered to serve two consecutive sentences of 1-15 years, after a judge called the case one of the most disturbing she has had to review.
Robles-Montalvo was sentenced Mar. 3 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, a second-degree felony.
According to prosecutors, Robles-Montalvo had been chatting with the Logan City Police officer about raping children and traveled to Cache County. He was detained by law enforcement without incident, at the prearranged location.
Robles-Montalvo reportedly admitted to police to chatting with the undercover officer. He also confessed to downloading child pornography in the past year.
Investigators searched Robles-Montalvo’s phone and found more than 10 photos and videos depicting the rape and sexual abuse of children by adults.
During Monday’s sentencing, defense attorney Scott Wilding said Robles-Montalvo understood the seriousness of the crimes and had no excuse for what took place. He asked the court for leniency, claiming that sending the defendant to prison would be worse because of the criminal element there.
Robles-Montalvo briefly apologized for his actions, explaining that it had hurt his family and community.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Ronnie Keller said Robles-Montalvo had been deceptive with investigators and obviously has a sexual interest in children. He asked the court for a prison sentence, to protect society.
Judge Angela Fonnesbeck agreed with Keller. She said this was one of the most disgusting cases she has had to preside over, and praised law enforcement for having to investigate these types of crimes.