LEHI, Utah — A Paralympic athlete is facing felony charges after he allegedly traveled to Lehi in hopes of sexually assaulting what he believed were two young girls he met online, but instead was an undercover police officer.
Gilbert Camacho, 24, from New Jersey, was arrested Monday on two counts of Rape of a Child and an additional two counts of Sodomy.
According to court documents, a Lehi police officer was conducting a multi-day undercover chat operation when they became aware of Camacho, who had allegedly been communicating over the internet to meet and sexually abuse two girls, ages 5 and 8 years old.
Camacho believed he was communicating with the mother of the children when he was arranging the meeting. Police said when Camacho was asked what he was looking for with the children, he replied, "Use them," and added that he had "experience with their ages."
When Camacho arrived at the time and location that had been arranged with who he thought was the mother, police were able to take him into custody without incident. While searching Camacho's vehicle, they found a gun, as well as a bag of candy that the alleged mother had told him to bring.
During an interview with detectives, Camacho claimed he was acting as a vigilante and that he had arranged the meeting to humiliate and potentially assault the mother. He added that he planned to call the police but wanted to meet with the mother to confront her.
Camacho said he associated with a group called the "Miami Avengers," who find individuals who try to meet children for sex. The report said that Camacho stated, "he never intended on sexually abusing the children."
The arrest report said Camacho is a member of Puerto Rico's Paralympic ski team and had competed in an event in Park City last year.
