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SALT LAKE CITY — Escalante’s police chief and only officer was charged Monday with providing false information in drug arrests made in the small southern Utah town in December.
Kevin Worlton is charged with two counts of making false or inconsistent material statements under oath or affirmation, a second-degree felony, and official misconduct, a class B misdemeanor.
Worlton is the lone officer serving Escalante, a town of about 800 residents. An investigation by the Utah Attorney General’s Office alleges Worlton made false a statements about whether he gave a drug use suspect their Miranda rights before using their confession to arrest them on Dec. 17.
In the probable cause statement Worlton filed to make the arrest, he reportedly said the suspect he approached at their home was “out of custody” and free to leave. Worlton, however, allegedly said the same suspect had been read their Miranda rights when he cited the arrest in a subsequent search warrant he filed in pursuit of another drug suspect.
"The interaction between (Worlton and the drug use suspect) was recorded, and (Worlton) could have referenced the recording before using the statements in subsequent search warrants,” according to the charges.
The interaction between (Worlton and the drug use suspect) was recorded, and (Worlton) could have referenced the recording before using the statements in subsequent search warrants.
–Charging documents
Worlton served his newly obtained search warrant later the same day, court documents show. He reportedly questioned a woman while serving that warrant and later reported she implicated two others in the exchange of marijuana.
A video recording of his interaction with that woman shows she told Worlton she had “no clue” about possible drug activity, charges state.
"This false statement is material because it was the difference between a third-degree felony distribution of marijuana charge and a class B misdemeanor possession or use of marijuana charge” against a suspect Worlton pursued based on the allegedly fabricated conversation.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office said it later confirmed the woman never implicated others to Worlton at any time.
Worlton was charged with official misconduct for allegedly failing to keep his arrest and warrant reports “organized and usable,” court documents said.
Worlton’s conversation with the first suspect and the warrant he subsequently obtained from that conversation led to six arrests in December, the attorney general’s office claims, including at least one associated with a first-degree felony offense.
Four of the suspects in those arrests pleaded guilty to their charges on Dec. 23. Worlton allegedly filed a report about one of the arrests as late as Dec. 29.
Worlton was issued a court summons Tuesday. He was not arrested in connection with the charges. No initial court date has been set.
Southern utah publication The Insider first reported on Jan. 12 that Worlton was placed on paid administrative leave by Escalante town officials pending an investigation by the attorney general’s office. Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com Twitter: @benlockhartnews
