A man in West Valley City is facing charges after police say he posed as both a boy and a girl online in order to solicit a nude picture from a young boy in southern Utah, according to a report from KSL. Eric Taylor Pitts, 31, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with two second-degree felonies — 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of enticing a minor. He was also charged two counts of dealing harmful materials to a minor, which is a third degree felony.
According to the charging documents, Pitts posed as a 14-year old boy while using the Textnow app. Later, Pitts introduced the victim to his second persona, “Ashley.” Pitts used this girl character to convince the boy to send an explicit photo of himself.
Investigators searched Pitts’ cellphone and found 550 images “depicting young children nude, in underwear, and in bathing suits,” according to the charges.