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SALT LAKE CITY — Recently unsealed court documents, including a search warrant, show a 17-year veteran prosecutor with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office was under investigation for child pornography before committing suicide in May.
Chad Platt, 46, was found dead near 81 E. 300 South about 5:30 a.m. on May 9 after apparently jumping off a parking structure. Three days earlier, neighbors of Platt reported about 15 officers in unmarked vehicles went to Platt's house, 2636 S. 1500 East, and removed a number of items. At the time, the Utah Attorney General's Office and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force declined comment.
When the news was first reported, Platt's brother, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, issued a statement on behalf of the family saying the allegations were false.
According to the newly unsealed warrant, investigators from both the task force and the Davis County Attorney's Office downloaded images of child pornography on Feb. 24 and March 30 from an IP address registered to Platt.
At least three images of child porn were downloaded, according to the warrant. But attorney general spokesman Dan Burton would not say how many total images were downloaded.
For at least a week, agents held surveillance on Platt's house, taking notes on whether the Wi-Fi signals in the area were password protected and what cars were parked in his driveway, the warrant states.
Platt was never married and has no children.
According to a return to the search warrant, a "Sony VHS tape labeled 'Cats,'" four floppy discs, four Fuji zip discs, and 40 more "floppy discs 3.5" were seized from Platt's home, the report states.
At the time of the warrants, an iPad was still missing, according to the attorney general's office. Burton said that iPad has now been recovered. He declined to go into detail, however, about whether any illegal images were found on it.
Speaking in general terms and not specifically about the Platt case, Burton said investigators typically will try to identify potential victims, distributors and look for other forensics.
