Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LEHI — A Bluffdale man who police say had "extremely graphic" child pornography images on his phone now faces an additional 22 felonies.
Richard Michael Martin, 29, was charged Wednesday in 4th District Court with 22 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
Martin was arrested Feb. 14 during an undercover operation conducted in Lehi by Utah County law enforcers. He was arrested after police say he solicited an undercover officer — whom he allegedly believed was a mother — to have sex with her preteen daughters.
Martin was also charged in 4th District Court on Feb. 22 with nine counts of enticing a minor — three counts for a similar 2016 incident and six connected to his Feb. 14 arrest.
After his arrest, Utah County sheriff's investigators said they were going to search Martin's phone after suspected child pornography was detected.
According to his latest charges, detectives said they found pictures and videos involving "very young, prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct."
One of the videos shows a 1-year-old "tied to a table and crying" while being molested, the charges state.
Investigators also found 13 pornographic pictures that Martin had taken of a 6-year-old girl, according to the charging documents.
"In an interview with police, Mr. Martin admitted that he had taken the photos at his residence in Bluffdale," the charges state. "During his interview with the detective, Mr. Martin admitted to having sent sexually explicit photos (of the girl) to others over the internet using the Whisper app at least twice."
Investigators say they will seek possible federal charges against Martin, who was allegedly arrested for similar crimes in Kentucky in 2009.
