SALT LAKE CITY — Photographs used to sell a bed online led to a Salt Lake City man being arrested on multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
The Salt Lake City Police Department was notified in June about a Craigslist post in which the person was attempting to sell a bed in the Liberty Park area. While one photo in the post showed the bed on its own, others showed a young girl believed to be under 12 years old wearing a nightgown and posing provocatively on the bed.
According to the police report, a description for the bed allegedly said, "Great super fun bed, all inclusive! Plenty you can do with it but be fragile, for rent reach out personally for prices if the one pictured isn't ideal we have options."
After a warrant was filed, Craigslist shared that the email connected to the post belonged to Miles Anderson.
While speaking with detectives, Anderson claimed he had "stumbled upon" the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and "downloaded it to make a predator poaching post." He added that he deleted most of the files afterwards, but admitted some were still on his phone after being contacted by police.
Anderson, 22, said before meeting with detectives, he deleted all the files because he was "scared."
An investigation found that Anderson allegedly sent a message on WhatsApp looking for child pornography to share, and a search found more than 10 photos of CSAM in his Gmail account, including a fully nude young girl and others that were sexually graphic.
Anderson was arrested and faces 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of obstruction of justice.