Provocative ad for bed sale leads to solicitation arrest

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City man allegedly trying to sell a bed online was arrested after the pictures he used in his ad, which included a young girl in provocative poses, raised enough suspicion that an investigation was launched.

Salt Lake City police concluded as a result of the investigation that 22-year-old Miles Andrew Anderson was seeking child sexual abuse material.

Anderson was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and obstruction of justice.

The investigation began in June when police received "a report of a suspicious circumstance." A police booking affidavit states that a tipster had viewed "a Craigslist post (that) listed a bed for sale.

"The listing was for a white velvet channel-tufted platform bed in Salt Lake for $200. One of the photos was of the bed itself. Several other photos showed a young girl sitting on the bed in different provocative poses. It is the same girl in each photo wearing a small nightgown dress," the affidavit continues.

Police say the girl in the picture appeared to be about 12.

The ad stated, "Great super fun bed, all inclusive! Plenty you can do with it but be fragile, for rent reach out personally for prices If the one pictured isn't ideal we have options!" the affidavit states.

Salt Lake City police say the ad raised enough suspicion that an investigation was opened and a warrant was served on the email associated with the Craigslist post.

After police traced the ad to Anderson, detectives went to his residence to question him. He initially claimed that he "had stumbled upon child sexual abuse material and downloaded it to make a predator poaching post. Miles stated that it was a bulk download and he deleted most of the files afterwards," according to the affidavit.

"Miles stated that prior to meeting with detectives, he deleted all of the files from all folders including the recently deleted folder. Miles stated that the reason he deleted the files was that he knew he was going to talk to police and was scared about the files," the affidavit continues.

But upon further investigation, police found a message on Anderson's phone from April sent on the WhatsApp stating, "tienes cp? Pa cambiar," which translates into "do you have CP? To trade," the affidavit states. Police say "CP" stands for child porn, a common term for child sexual abuse material.

"In the messages, Miles' phone number is asking if they have child sex abuse material to exchange. A warrant to Miles' Gmail account revealed more than 10 videos of child sex abuse material," according to the affidavit.

Salt Lake police believe the photos posted in the ad were ones that Anderson got from someone else. It was unknown Wednesday if he actually had a bed for sale.

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