ST. GEORGE — A St. George man is in jail facing nearly 20 sexual exploitation and pornography charges following an investigation that began in Indiana and continued into multiple states where children as young as 11 were targeted online.
Johnathan Paul Sperry, 25, of St. George, was arrested Tuesday by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and booked into jail facing a dozen second-degree felony charges that include nine counts of sex offense – exploit minor – pornography and three counts of entice minor – electronic crime.
He also faces a third-degree felony count of providing harmful material to a minor, as well as six misdemeanor charges – four counts of providing harmful material to a minor and entice minor – electronic crime.
On Wednesday, District Judge Keith C. Barnes signed a no bail hold order and Sperry remains in custody without bail.
The investigation commenced March 17 when investigators with the Auburn Police Department in Indiana were investigating a case involving an 11-year-old child that was communicating with an unknown male who identified himself only as “Sperry” under the username of “Groovydragon” on his Snapchat profile.
Investigators in Indiana also found evidence the suspect requested nude photos and videos from the young girl containing sexual abuse material, which was sent to the suspect’s Snapchat account. Similarly, videos the suspect had sent of himself were found on the child’s cell phone.
Through the course of the investigation, detectives in Indiana identified the suspect as Sperry, a St. George resident. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is operated under the Utah Attorney General’s Office, then became involved.
Agents executed a search warrant on the suspect’s social media account, and in response, investigators received multiple media files, including one that, according to agents, revealed a pattern of behavior where Sperry used the Snapchat account “to target juvenile social media app users and either solicit files of child pornography or child sexual abuse material,” and investigators also say the suspect would send nude photos of himself.
Both parties asked the other for their ages in each of the online conversations, including one that took place just before Christmas between the suspect and a 16-year-old girl. During the online messaging Sperry sent the teen several videos that exposed his genitals, including videos that show the suspect’s face as well.
Detectives also noted that Sperry directed the juveniles to send him nude photos and videos of themselves as well, and then he directed the adolescents as to what type of videos he wanted them to send.
Many of the adolescents mentioned the risk that their parents might find out about the illicit exchanges, during multiple conversations with the suspect – message threads that were later recovered by police.
In one message, for example, the juvenile wrote, “That’s all I can show until tonight so my parents don’t see.”
In January, the suspect reportedly solicited nude photographs from an 11-year-old who identified her age at the beginning of the thread, and over the course of several days the suspect sent the child photos of himself, and then requested she “send him nudes.”
In February, the suspect started messaging another 11-year-old girl and sent her nude photos of himself shortly after the conversation was initiated. The report also states that Sperry also asked the child to send sexually explicit videos of herself by writing, “So do what I want.”
Investigators also noted the communications listed in the charging documents are indicative of the content found on the suspect’s social media account, leaving agents to believe that further investigation will reveal more victims, in addition to more evidence that will likely mean additional charges may be forthcoming.
Following the arrest, the ICAC agent requested that Sperry be held without bail, citing the substantial amount of evidence that supports the charges, as well as the risk the defendant poses to the community should he be released from custody.
“More specifically,” the detective wrote, Sperry “has shown a pattern of targeting juveniles – specifically juveniles – as young as eleven years old” who identified their ages to the suspect, and yet the suspect has “repeatedly” solicited the young girls to record themselves conducting acts that are classified as child pornography or child sexual abuse material under Utah law.
Further, the report stated, Sperry has contacted multiple young girls from around the country, several as young as 11 years old, to solicit nude photos from them.
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, 2022, all rights reserved.