Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A 20-year-old Provo man has been arrested for allegedly meeting a 12-year-old girl on a dating app and making plans to get her pregnant, according to police.
Tyler Austin Erickson was booked into the Summit County Jail for investigation of attempted rape of a child, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, lewdness involving a child and enticing a minor.
The investigation began Jan. 16 when police learned a 12-year-old Summit County girl had been sexually active with an adult male, according to a police affidavit. The girl disclosed that she and Erickson met on the Omegle mobile app, according to the affidavit. The app provides online video chats with random people.
Erickson and the girl arranged to meet at the residence belonging to the girl’s grandmother, the affidavit states.
“The juvenile said in the interview that she told Tyler that she was a 12-year-old girl and Tyler responded that he was a 20-year-old-male via social media. The juvenile stated that once they had met they were in her grandma’s shed in the loft area,” according to the affidavit.
The grandmother caught the two naked under blankets, the affidavit states.
When police went through the girl’s phone, it was learned that she and Erickson used Snapchat and texting to communicate after meeting, and the girl sent coordinates to where she was staying and told Erickson to park down the street, according to the affidavit.
“It was also discovered that the juvenile and Tyler were talking about having a baby together,” the affidavit states. “Tyler and the juvenile victim had made previous arrangements to meet for sexual encounters if their first encounter was not successful in completing the goal of making the juvenile pregnant.”
Sheriff’s detectives interviewed Erickson on Tuesday and told them “he knew what he was doing was wrong but still decided to go and meet the juvenile with intents to have sex,” according to the affidavit.
