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Sean D. Reyes
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Utah AG Prosecutes Child Porn Case; Gets Severe Sentence

Today, April 20th, 2022, Jonathan Isaac Dew was sentenced to 1-15 years in prison after being convicted of 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, after the jury convicted him on March 8th, 2022. Though many of these cases often receive a sentence of 0-210 days in jail, the Utah Attorney General’s Office argued, and the Second District Court judge in the case agreed, that a more severe sentence was appropriate.

As Assistant Attorney General Ryan Holtan argued, the aggravating factors in this case were:

  • Jonathan Dew was in a position of trust, a law enforcement officer at the time of his offenses.
  • The content on his computer was described in court as ‘horrific’; containing images of toddlers ages two and three being raped and sodomized.
  • Jonathan Dew acted with full knowledge of what he was doing.
  • Jonathan Dew used extremely sophisticated methods to cover his tracks, including advanced encryption software.
  • Jonathan Dew has not taken responsibility for his actions.

“Our office continues to prosecute all child porn and exploitation cases as aggressively as we can, and I’m proud of the work by our ICAC investigation and prosecution teams on this case,” said Attorney General Sean D. Reyes. “Any matters involving child exploitation are tragic. And here, where a former peace officer is involved, it is even more disturbing. We must hold accountable not only the creators, suppliers, and distributors of child porn but also consumers, such as in this case, who create demand for the abuse to occur.”