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WEST VALLEY CITY — A Florida man was charged Thursday with picking up two boys in a marked police patrol car and taking them to West Valley hotel room to engage in sex, using his government credit card to pay for the room.
Albert De Alba, 45, whose home address is listed in court documents as Homestead, Florida, was charged in 3rd District Court with three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16-year-old, a third-degree felony.
In 2019, police say two gay teens met De Alba on a social media app and agreed to engage in sex. De Alba picked up the boys "in a Vernal Police Department marked unit and took them to a hotel" in West Valley City, according to charging documents.
One boy told investigators "De Alba had them read something on De Alba's phone which identified De Alba as a police officer for Vernal Police Department and De Alba told them he did not want them to say anything to anyone since it would ruin his career," the charges allege.
However, Utah's Peace Officer Standards and Training — which certifies all law enforcers in the state — said Thursday that it has no record of Alba ever being a certified police officer in Utah. Likewise, Vernal Assistant Police Chief Keith Campbell said Alba has never been an officer with his department, though he believed Alba used to be with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is a federal agency.
Furthermore, Campbell said the department has no record of any unauthorized use of one of its patrol cars. Vernal police say they will be looking more into what vehicle Alba is accused of driving that day, but Campbell said it was not a patrol car that was in his department's fleet.
Prosecutors also noted in court documents that during the investigation, "it was discovered that De Alba did reserve a hotel in Salt Lake County during this time and put the reservation under 'reservation police' and paid with his government credit card. The investigation also confirmed that De Alba was in official travel status from the Bureau of Indian Affairs from Oct. 4, 2019, through Nov. 1, 2019."
