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OGDEN — An Ogden man was arrested after police say he offered to trade e-cigarettes for illicit pictures of a teen.
Charles Redwen, 49, is in the Weber County jail facing more than a dozen felony charges.
Police say Redwen had a business of selling e-cigarette products, sometimes soliciting to teens over the Internet. They became aware of what was going on after a concerned mother contacted them about some illicit conversations she found on her 15-year-old son’s cellphone.
“The individual was Facebooking and texting her son, was asking for some specific, sexual, illicit photographs and was requesting that they meet,” Riverdale Police Lt. James Ebert said.
Police asked the FBI to get involved.
“They actually took the Facebook page over, the account over, and started an online conversation with the suspect,” Ebert said. “The suspect requested that the youth meet him, or send him other pictures, specifically ask for some type of sexual acts or pictures of the youth naked.”
Police say Redwen would give juveniles different juices and flavors for their e-cigarettes. “At times, he would trade them for pictures of them in various states of being undressed,” Ebert said.
This happened dozens of times, police say.
“There’s an ongoing history,” Ebert said. “We have pages of pages of conversations between the suspect and multiple juveniles that live all across the county.”
Police served a search warrant at Redwen’s home, where they found hundreds of illicit pictures on his computer. They are still trying to determine how many of the subjects are underage.
The police department says it has interviewed between five and 10 youths.
According to an arrest affidavit, Redwen admitted to soliciting naked pictures from at least one 15-year-old boy.
Trevor Coy, who rents a room from Redwen, has known Redwen for about two years.
“I just know that he’s a very kind individual, and he’d give the shirt off his back if he could,” Coy said. “Some of it, I think, is just baloney, but I don’t know. I can’t say for sure.”
He said Redwen was a good guy all around who helped him when he was having family issues.
“My dad had come down with cancer, and he took me in so my dad didn’t have to worry about me,” Coy said. “Charles got me back into school. He just did a lot for me and some other people that I know.”
Redwen was arrested Jan. 23, and was charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; three counts of dealing in materials harmful to minor, a third-degree felony; one count of solicitation sexual exploitation of a minor, a third-degree felony; one count of entice, solicit, seduce or lure of a minor by Internet or text, a class A misdemeanor.
During a preliminary hearing Feb. 12, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. A three-day jury trial was set to begin May 7.
Parents who think their teen may have had contact with Redwen should contact police right away.
Riverdale police say this is a good reminder to parents to be active and know what their kids are doing and where they are going.
“What we are requesting is that parents maintain a lot of contact with their child through their social media, monitor all their social media, be aware of who they’re contacting and what is being said,” Ebert said. “Predators out there use social media, many times, to groom youth, and they offer things like e-cigarettes or other types of activities that youth cannot always get on their own.”
