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SPRINGVILLE — Amended criminal charges have been filed against a Springville man accused of sexually abusing a young boy for years and paying him thousands of dollars to not tell anyone.
Kevin G. Sykes, 54, was charged Friday in 4th District Court with two counts of attempted forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; plus sex abuse of a child, and eight counts of forcible sex abuse, second-degree felonies.
Earlier this month, Sykes, who police say was a youth leader at his church, was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, after his boss found suspected child pornography on his phone, according to charging documents.
As the investigation progressed, however, police learned that Sykes had been sexually abusing a boy for several years beginning when the boy was 10, according to amended charges filed Friday. The boy told detectives that he believes Sykes "had molested him more than 100 times over the years."
During one incident in 2019 when the boy told Sykes to stop because he did not like it, Sykes told him, "'Too bad' and, 'I'm paying you money not to say anything,' and kept doing it," the charging documents allege.
The boy estimated that over the years, Sykes "has given him as much as $15,000 in cash, given him three cellphones, clothing, lots of nicotine vape cartridges and paid his cellphone bill" and told the boy that he couldn't tell anyone about the alleged abuse "because (the boy) was being paid," according to court documents.
Police say Sykes claimed to be "mentoring" the child at the time, which put Sykes in a position of trust over the boy. After his initial arrest, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said Sykes "has a position in his church where he works with young men and boys in the same age range as those depicted in the pictures found on his phone."
