Ed. note: The content of this article pertains to violence involving children. Some may consider the details contained in this report to be graphic in nature. Reader discretion is advised.
ST. GEORGE — Google personnel provided authorities with a tip that led to the arrest of a St. George man Tuesday on felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
In April, Google Inc. representatives filed a CyberTipline report notifying authorities that a Google user had uploaded two images of child pornography to their email, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in support of the arrest.
Officials reviewed the images and saw a nude 1- to 2-year-old girl lying on her back with her legs spread, the arresting deputy wrote in a sworn statement. A man can also be seen in the photo kneeling next to the baby with an erect penis lying across the baby’s thigh.
Through the IP address provided by Google, the suspect was identified as 40-year-old Nathan Michael Hill, according to the statement.
On Tuesday, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant on Hill’s residence, the report stated. Hill was located inside the residence and authorities determined he was the only person living in the home.
During the search of Hill’s residence, officials located several different electronic devices, according to the statement.
When authorities viewed an SD card found in Hill’s camera, approximately 20 additional images of child pornography were discovered, the report stated.
“Also, images of young females in bathing suits that appear to have been taken covertly were observed on the SD card,” the deputy wrote in the statement.
When authorities attempted to question him, Hill invoked his Miranda rights and refused to answer any questions.
Hill was arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.
The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Hill of two second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Bail for his release pending trial was set at $25,000 cash-only. Hill is scheduled to appear before 5th District Judge John Walton for his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon.
According to Utah Court documents, Hill has an extensive criminal history involving drugs and alcohol, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, assault, criminal trespass, theft and lewdness.
Hill was arrested on lewdness charges in June 2004 and August 2015, and is currently facing a third-degree felony count of lewdness stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred July 10 in Washington County.
In March 1998, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched the CyberTipline to further its mission of helping to prevent and diminish the sexual exploitation of children.
More than 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between 1998 and June 2016, according to the organization’s website.
The CyberTipline provides the public and electronic service providers with the ability to report instances of online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the Internet.
The center reviews CyberTipline reports to ensure reports of children who may be in imminent danger get priority. After the review is completed, all information in a CyberTipline report is made available to law enforcement.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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