Man with 'predatory behavior' charged 9 months after prior conviction

MURRAY — A 19-year-old Murray man who avoided prison time and was placed on probation for unlawful sexual activity with a young teen has been arrested again.

James Jayden Smith Jr. was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with child rape, object rape of child and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of child, all first-degree felonies; and child endangerment, a third-degree felony.

On June 9, Smith arranged a meeting with a 12-year-old girl whom he had met on Snapchat, according to charging documents.

"She reported that she rode the train to Salt Lake County and was picked up by Smith and his mom," the charges state.

When they got to Smith's home, he sexually abused her, prosecutors state. After being taken into custody and pressed by investigators if Smith knew what consent was, he said he understood "that consent with somebody under 14 'is nonexistent,'" according to the charges.

The new charges come less than a year after Smith was convicted of abusing a 13-year-old girl.

Smith, who was 18 at the time, was convicted in August in 4th District Court on an amended charge of unlawful adolescent sexual activity, a third-degree felony. He was originally charged with three first-degree felonies including rape of a child.

In that case, Smith was granted credit for the four months he served in jail following his arrest, had a sentence of up to five years in the Utah State Prison suspended and was placed on probation for four years.

"The defendant was on probation for a mere nine months before committing the same act – as in: adding a minor to Snapchat, utilizing the train to gain access to the minor, providing the minor with drugs, and then engaging in sexual acts with the minor. The defendant's behavior and actions are concerning, and his use of social media to add minor children as 'friends' is predatory," prosecutors wrote in their charging documents.

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