- Jonathan Allen Hansen faces new charges for allegedly possessing child sex abuse material.
- Hansen was previously charged in May for sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl.
- Investigators found hundreds of explicit files on his devices including the "Matt Estes" series.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A South Salt Lake man already accused of sexually abusing a teen girl is now accused of having some of the worst child sex abuse material investigators have seen.
Jonathan Allen Hansen, 25, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony, and sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
His new charges come on the heels of a previous arrest in which he was charged in May in 3rd District Court with five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. In that case, Hansen is accused of inappropriately touching a 16-year-old girl he met on social media, according to charging documents.
Hansen was also charged on Monday in 4th District Court with distributing harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony, for allegedly sending inappropriate pictures of himself to a 15-year-old girl.
While investigating the sex abuse case in Salt Lake County, police "found many sexually explicit images and videos on (Hansen's) electronic devices of children being sexually abused," charging documents state.
Among the hundreds of files of child sex abuse material found on Hansen's phone, investigators found images from the "Matt Estes series," the charges state.
"The Matt Estes series … has been described as some of the worst child sex abuse material (that) the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children investigators can be exposed to," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
Estes was convicted in Tennessee in 2017 of raping a child and is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence. Investigators say Estes "is idolized by pedophiles," and child sex abuse material that he produced "continues to be distributed amongst pedophiles."
Detectives also found videos of Hansen sexually abusing a teen girl that he recorded himself, according to the charges. After Hansen was arrested in May, investigators say he called the teen girl from the Salt Lake County Jail "and engages in grooming behavior with her on the recorded call."
Prosecutors note in their charges that "this is an ongoing investigation and is far from complete. Law enforcement is still in the process of reviewing the many images and videos of child sex abuse material found on … multiple electronic devices, and will provide updates as soon as possible."
Based on what investigators have already found on Hansen's phone, the state anticipates "amending this information with several more first-degree and second-degree charges," prosecutors stated.
