A 32-year-old Utah man is facing felony charges after Franklin police say he used Snapchat to solicit and save sexually explicit photos from a 14-year-old Venango County girl, tracing the account back to him through a previous username, a matching birth date, and his own workplace timecards. Ian Larry Anderson, of Centerville, Utah, was charged on September 21 with three felony counts, according to exploreVenango.
According to exploreVenango, the investigation began on July 20 after a family member raised concerns to police about a conversation on a juvenile's phone. Franklin officers reviewed the girl's Snapchat account and found messages exchanged with a user going by the name “hatboxghost999,” according to the outlet's report on the case.
Within the messages, the two accounts had exchanged ages, and the report indicates the user learned the girl was 14 years old. Despite that, the account told her, “I'm twice your age,” and later added, “I don't mind chatting but i'm not into catching a case,” per the report.
Explicit Photo Requested, Then Saved
The account user asked the girl to send explicit photos, and at one point asked, “Mind if I save in chat? lol,” before requesting more images, the outlet reports. The girl sent an explicit photograph, which the user then saved in the Snapchat chat, according to the same account.
Officers served a search warrant to Snap Inc. on July 21, seeking records tied to the account. Records received back on August 7 confirmed the explicit photo had been sent on July 20, the same day the family member first alerted police, per the report.
Digital Trail Leads Back to Utah
Those Snap Inc. records also connected the account to a previous username, “iantheanderson,” along with a birth date matching Anderson's, as noted by exploreVenango. Investigators further found that the account had connected to an IP address registered to a healthcare center in Bountiful, Utah.
That lead prompted police to serve a search warrant for employment records at the Bountiful healthcare center on September 1. Records received on September 11 confirmed Anderson worked at the facility as a tech analyst, and timecard records showed he was clocked in at work at the times the Snapchat messages were sent, exploreVenango reported exploreVenango.
Charges Filed, Hearing Still Unscheduled
Anderson was charged on September 21 with three felony counts, including photographing, filming or depicting a child in a sex act on a computer. The case is currently awaiting a preliminary hearing to be scheduled before Magisterial District Judge Kevin Saragian, per a report from exploreVenango.
The original report notes that extreme graphic details were omitted due to the sexual nature of the alleged crimes, and that several details were removed to help protect the alleged victim's identity.
