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SALT LAKE CITY — A Lehi man recently arrested and accused of enticing a minor during an undercover police operation had previously paid a teenage girl to engage in sexual activity with him, according to prosecutors.
Michael Roy Banks, 32, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with rape, a first-degree felony; two counts of enticing a minor and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies; and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, a third-degree felony.
Banks recently contacted an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl on various social media and dating apps, according to charging documents. Banks arranged to meet the “girl” for sexual activity despite being told she was only 13, the charges state. When he arrived at the designated meeting location, he was arrested.
When investigators started looking through Banks’ phone, they found a conversation with a girl that indicated the two had engaged in sexual activity. In the conversation, Banks told the girl to bring another girl between the ages of 12 and 14 with her next time and he would pay them $500 to split between them, the charges state.
Detectives tracked down the girl and learned not only was she 16 years old, but that Banks had paid her $100 to have sex with him, according to charging documents.
