- Merrill Ross Jackson, 68, was arrested for allegedly stalking a past victim.
- Jackson violated a lifetime protective order by contacting the victim at her home, police say.
- He had previously been convicted of unlawful sexual activity with the victim, a young teen.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A 68-year-old man convicted of engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl has now been arrested and accused of contacting the victim at her home and at work despite a lifetime protective order.
Merrill Ross Jackson, of South Salt Lake, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of stalking and two counts of violating a protective order.
In 2023, Jackson was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; and six counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and dealing in harmful materials to a minor, third-degree felonies, after he was found in the back seat of a car with a 15-year-old girl.
The girl told police she had been involved in a sexual "relationship" with Jackson for about a year starting when she was 14, according to the charges. Jackson told investigators that he had met the girl in 2021 on Tinder and that their friendship had grown into a "romantic relationship."
"Jackson stated it is hard to tell how old a girl is these days because of how they dress and (their) makeup," the charges state.
Jackson pleaded guilty in 2024 to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and unlawful sexual activity with a minor, third-degree felonies, as part of a plea deal. He was given a suspended prison sentence, ordered to serve less than a year in the Salt Lake County Jail and placed on four years of probation, according to court records.
He was also issued a continuous protective order, banning him from going to the girl's residence, school and workplace.
"You must not go to the residence or premises of the protected person or other protected places without an officer. Law enforcement can remove you or keep you away from the places frequented by the protected person if needed," the order states with the words "must not" printed in bold. "You must stay away from the protected person if you encounter them at any other location not listed in this order. You must not communicate or have contact with the protected person and must leave."
But the victim, who is now an adult and married, contacted police recently to report that in January, a man had come to her home. Her husband stopped the man as he was walking back to his car, according to a police booking affidavit.
"During a brief conversation, (she) recognized the voice of the male as Jackson," the affidavit states.
Police confirmed that Jackson was in the area using license plate cameras.
Then on Feb. 13, the woman "reported that she received a message from Jackson which included a photo of her house. Her doorbell camera captured video of Jackson's vehicle parked across the street, in the same relative location as from where the photo she received would have been taken," according to the affidavit.
It was at that time that the woman also told police that Jackson had contacted her at her work in July 2025 but she did not report the incident.
When questioned by police, Jackson claimed that "he was invited to her home and that they had engaged in conversation over messages," the affidavit states. But when officers asked to see the correspondence, "he was unable to produce those messages."
"(The woman) has expressed a fear of Jackson who has gone to her home now twice in the span of about a month," police said.
