- A 29-year-old Salt Lake County man was arrested for allegedly soliciting minors.
- Gabriel Osvaldo Garcia faces potential charges of sexual exploitation and enticing minors.
- Police identified 16 victims but say there could be more.
SALT LAKE CITY — A 29-year-old Salt Lake County man has been arrested and accused of soliciting numerous teen and pre-teen girls to become their "sugar daddy," according to police.
Gabriel Osvaldo Garcia was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday night for investigation of five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of enticing a minor and three counts of distributing harmful material to a minor.
The investigation began in April when a 17-year-old girl told her school resource officer that someone "had contacted her on a social media platform and engaged in an inappropriate conversation, including sending her an inappropriate video of whom she believed was a juvenile female," a police booking affidavit states.
Investigators served a search warrant on the man's social media account "and an additional 16 victims, all minor females, were identified," police stated.
The man, later identified as Garcia, allegedly reached out to girls between the ages of 12 and 17 on social media "and told them he wanted to spoil them and be their sugar daddy. The children agreed to a price and after receiving payment through different financial platforms, they sent the suspect child sex abuse material they had created of themselves. The suspect also distributed sexually explicit videos or photos of himself to many of the victims," according to the affidavit.
Investigators say Garcia prompted his victims to send photos with "more skin."
"Gabriel enticed more than 15 children to send photos and received hundreds of child sex abuse material files," the affidavit states. "Gabriel also engaged in numerous inappropriate conversations with children he knew were underage."
On Wednesday, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant at Garcia's Salt Lake County apartment and arrested him. Investigators say even though Garcia was arrested for investigation of ten crimes, they expect additional charges will be filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney once they have a chance to go through all of Garcia's electronic devices.
"Evidence shows that Gabriel has been enticing minors for a couple of years and admitted to seeking out 'pedo porn,'" the affidavit states.
