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SALT LAKE CITY — A registered sex offender has been charged with paying a young girl $5 to take pictures of herself, according to prosecutors.
Dustin Lane Person, 34, of Vernal, was charged Jan. 29 in 8th District Court with human trafficking of a child, a first-degree felony, and five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
According to charging documents, Person solicited a 9-year-old girl in January to “participate in the production of child pornography.” The girl initially said no, but then became afraid that Person would get mad at her, the charges state. Person gave the girl his phone and she used it to take several pictures of herself, according to charging documents.
When she was done, Person gave her $5, the charges state.
The girl told authorities what had happened. Person, who had been released on parole from the Utah State Prison two months earlier after serving time for a conviction of sex abuse of a 14-year-old, was visited by Adult Probation and Parole who looked at his phone and found the child pornography, the charges state.
“Dustin has only been out on parole for approximately two months, and has stated in jail phone calls that he has been having trouble resisting certain urges involving children. Dustin stated he has undergone therapy and had several tools in order to help with his addiction but did not use them,” according to a police affidavit.
Person, who is on the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnap Registry, was convicted of three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and two counts lewdness in 2013. He was sentenced to up to five years in the Utah State Prison on the unlawful sexual activity convictions, with each sentence to run consecutively, according to court records. He was convicted of distributing pornographic material that same year in a separate case.
His next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 18.
