- Samuel Mitchell, 42, was sentenced to probation for explicit messages with a South Jordan teen.
- He was one of three men charged for illegal communications with a South Jordan teen after she went missing for over a month.
- One man from Florida has been sentenced, and a Texas man still has a warrant out for his arrest.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Herriman man arrested in connection with the disappearance of a South Jordan teenager in April 2025 was sentenced to probation on Friday for sending sexually explicit messages to her.
Samuel Mitchell, 42, said he thought about what he had done wrong during his time in jail. He called jail miserable, but said he is still grateful for the chance to recognize that he was causing harm.
Third District Judge Thaddeus May sentenced Mitchell to one to 15 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and one year in jail for enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor. However, he suspended that sentence and instead ordered Mitchell to spend four years on probation, 291 days in jail and follow sex offender conditions.
The judge gave Mitchell credit for the over 291 days he had already spent in jail. He was released from jail after pleading guilty to reduced charges.
May also ordered Mitchell not to have access to the internet without approval from Adult Probation & Parole.
"The court credits you for the steps that you've made … and hopes that you will continue to make future positive steps. But it is very important that you understand the court has a very short leash for crimes of this nature, and I think that's because the community demands that there be a short leash," he said.
Mitchell's attorney, Edward Stone, said his client is a veteran and a welder, a profession in which it is not hard to find jobs that do not bring him into contact with minor children.
"I think he's going to be an excellent candidate for probation. … I think he's going to be highly successful." Stone said.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to the charges under a plea deal that dismissed four additional counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
Austin Memmott, assistant attorney general, called Mitchell's crimes "extremely serious," and the victims in the case are also involved in other cases that are being prosecuted.
He said the South Jordan teen and her family agreed with the outcome of the case, but did not want to speak at the sentencing. Memmott said prosecutors were unable to contact a second victim.
The teen, then 15, communicated with multiple men on social media apps before she went missing for over a month. Her mother dropped her off at a school in American Fork, and an unknown man gave her a ride to the UTA TRAX station, where she traveled to Provo. She was eventually found in Colorado Springs after voluntarily coming to the police department.
Matthew Nicholas Menard, of Miami, admitted to soliciting the same teenager and talking to her about getting together in Las Vegas. He was sentenced in February to one to 15 years in prison for criminal solicitation of a minor and one year behind bars for enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor, after pleading guilty.
A third man, William Taylor Glines of Texas City, Texas, also faces charges in connection with the search for the teenager and a warrant has been out for his arrest for a year now.
He is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, first-degree felonies; two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; plus enticement of a minor and three counts of criminal solicitation, a class A misdemeanor.
