Iron County man in jail for allegedly sending partially nude photo in employee work chat

Stock image of Parowan Police Department vehicle, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — An Iron County man who is on parole for sexual crimes against children appeared in court Thursday facing a lewdness charge after he allegedly sent a photo of his genitals to a work group chat.

Brady Carson, 28, an Iron County resident, made an initial appearance in 5th District Court in Cedar City facing one third-degree felony lewdness charge and is incarcerated in Iron County Jail without bail.

The charge stems from an incident reported Aug. 26 when officers were dispatched to a truck stop in Parowan on a report that an employee of the business, identified as Carson, had allegedly sent a picture of his genitalia to the staff of the business.

Officers spoke to the store manager who told police that when confronted about the photo, the suspect told her it was an accident and he “had clicked the wrong chat,” the officer noted in the report.

Officers also contacted the suspect’s parole officer, who said Carson told him his roommate had gotten ahold of his phone and sent the photo.

Brady Lyn Carson, 28, of Cedar City, booking photo taken in Iron County, Utah, Sept. 30, 2020 | Photo courtesy of the Iron County SHeriff’s Office, Cedar City News, St. George News

Through the course of the investigation, officers interviewed Carson, who allegedly told police he meant to send the photo to his girlfriend but sent it to the work chat by mistake.

When confronted about the conflicting statements made to the manager, the parole officer and police as to how the photo ended up in the work chat, Carson said he “would talk to his manager and parole officer to make sure everyone was on the same page,” he said.

The officer noted that under the circumstances, the suspect should have known the photo “would cause affront or alarm,” in addition to him being a sex offender.

As such, Carson was arrested and later charged with third-degree felony lewdness by a sex offender and booked into the Iron County Jail.

The sex offender registry requirement was one of the conditions under the terms of the suspect’s probation stemming from a 2015 case involving two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child and one third-degree felony count of dealing in materials harmful to a minor.

The case was filed September 2015 following an investigation into a report referred to the Cedar City Police Department by Child Protective Services after the agency received information that Carson had shown pornography to a 6-year-old child.

Brady Lyn Carson, 23, of Cedar City, booking photo taken in Iron County, Utah, Oct. 8, 2015 | File photo courtesy of the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar City News, St. George News

According to court documents filed in Iron County, the suspect inappropriately touched the little girl while giving her a bath as well.

The aggravated charge was modified and the suspect pleaded guilty to all counts in December of that same year. He was sentenced to serve one to 15 years in Utah State Prison.

He was released in the summer of 2017 and ordered to register as a sex offender under the terms of his parole.

In 2013, Carson was charged with one third-degree felony count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a charge that was reduced to misdemeanor sexual battery under the terms of the plea agreement.

In that case, filed in Washington County, the suspect admittedly had sexual relations with a 15-year-old that resulted in a pregnancy. He pleaded guilty to the charge in October of that same year and was placed on 24 months of probation, required to obtain a psychosexual evaluation and fulfill other standard requirements.

His probation was then transferred to Iron County when the defendant relocated north.

After a series of violations, the suspect’s probation was terminated following his arrest and conviction of the crimes associated with the 2015 case.

On the current case, Carson is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Monday, and he remains in custody without bail.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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