Police investigating missing person find child porn on man’s phone

Written by Mori Kessler
December 12, 2018
File photo, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A Washington City man was arrested this week for possessing child pornography.

Anthony W. Tarchick, of Washington City, Utah, booking photo, Dec. 9, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Anthony W. Tarchick, 28, faces three second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor stemming from the material discovered on his cell phone, according to court records. The phone was taken by the Washington City Police with his consent during a missing person investigation and was put through a digital forensics analysis.

The missing persons case has since been resolved, Washington City Police Lt. Jason Williams told St. George News Wednesday, and is not related to the sexual exploitation charges.

As a result of the forensics analysis, investigators discovered 15 images of child pornography involving children believed to be between 5-8 years old, according to court documents.

Tarchick was arrested Sunday and booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility without incident.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mori Kessler serves as a Senior Reporter for St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2011-12, and an assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won an award for photojournalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing ferals bees from a Washington City home. He is also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler@STGnews

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3 Comments

  • Alisa December 12, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    I am so happy that you post stories like this one. Because it helps us to protect our children. But I hate that there are stories like this one. ?

  • stevenxfiles December 12, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    Victims as young as 5-8 years old? No, this creep does not belong outside in general society. He needs to be put away forever.

  • Comment December 12, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    Is it still under investigation as far as if he’s the one took the photographs?

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