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- An Arizona teacher was arrested in Utah and accused of enticing a minor.
- Derek Thomas Lange, 34, was caught in a police sting operation in Cedar City.
- Lange is a high school teacher in Colorado City.
CEDAR CITY — A high school teacher was arrested in Utah over the weekend and accused of arranging to meet an undercover officer he thought was a teenage girl.
Derek Thomas Lange, 34, was booked into the Iron County Jail and charged on Monday in 5th District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony; enticing a minor, a second-degree felony; and four counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony.
The investigation began around March 12, when a Cedar City police officer was posing as a 13-year-old girl online.
"As part of that operation, I responded to various ads posted on various dating and social websites. One of the sites I visited was Doublelist.com. I responded to various posts made on the site," the officer wrote in a police booking affidavit.
While one person told the undercover officer, "You should not be here. Do not contact me again," when the officer said he was nearly 14, another person later identified as Lange kept pushing the conversation, according to the affidavit.
"(It's) very clear the purpose of said meetup would be sexual in nature. Throughout the conversation (Lange) is the driver of the sexual conversations," the affidavit alleges. "(Lange) also makes multiple comments and actions throughout the conversation that show that he is in full knowledge that what he is doing is wrong and is trying to hide his true identity."
Lange also allegedly sent explicit pictures to the undercover officer. When investigators identified him, they learned there was also an active case involving him in Utah County, according to the affidavit.
On Saturday, Lange arranged to meet the "girl" and was arrested when he arrived, the affidavit says. Police say he left his young children home alone when he went to meet up with the undercover officer.
Lange is a high school teacher in Colorado City, Arizona, the arrest report says. He is listed on the El Capitan High School website as an English teacher and sports coach.
