20 COUNTS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ADDED TO UTAH MAN’S CHARGES OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

KUTV/Larry D. Curtis

A Utah man accused of child sexual abuse is also facing 20 counts of child sexual exploitationof a minor after police discovered pre-pubescent pornographic images after serving a search warrantat his Heber City home. Police say there are at least five victims of Johnson.

Bryce Johnson, who owns a bounce house company, was previously charged with three felony countsalleging he abused two boys and he is accused of touching another boy inappropriately at anice-skating rink. Heber City Police Department said Monday it is halfway through its investigationof Johnson and recommended the new charges.

Police investigated Johnson after it was claimed he offered a 10-year-old boy money to pose inhis underwear. The abuse charges followed as police also searched his home on June 7, and seizeddevices capable of digital media access. The investigation of these devices, police said in aprobable cause affidavit, led to the discovery of the images of child pornography.

We suspect there will be more charges by the close of this investigation, and have begunworking with federal investigators regarding the possession of theses grotesque images, Heberpolice said.

Police said they have examined 2.5 terabytes of raw data with three terabytes remaining.

The affidavit said the subjects in the photos were young males and females in various stages ofundressing and included nude sexual images. The affidavit detailed some of the images found thatincluded children as young as toddlers performing sexual acts with other children or adults

All pornographic images found to this point, appear to have been downloaded from the internetand were not photographs of any local children, Heber police said on its Facebook page.

The 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor are all second-degree felonies. It detailssexual exploitation of a minor as knowingly possessing child pornography or possessing it with theintent to distribute.

Previously police said there could be additional sexual abuse victims because Johnson was incontact with many children through his businesses.

Aggravated sexual abuse of a child is a first-degree felony.

Johnson, 33, owns Fun Stuff LLC, which operates Heber Bounce.

Message from Executive Director Laura A. Ahearn: Parents for Megan's Law and the Crime VictimsCenter provides prevention education, advocacy, counseling and other valuable support services tochild and adult victims of sexual assault and to all victims of violent crime. Please visit ourwebsite at www.parentsformeganslaw.org for news, information and resources in your community.

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