Draper police continued to look for more victims and sort through evidence Friday following the arrest of a man who is accused of recruiting teenage girls for prostitution.
Arash Alexander Zarif, 29, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Thursday on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of running houses of prostitution and three counts of sexual activity with a minor.
Investigators believe Zarif would find young girls and offer them money to perform sex acts on male adults. The girls would receive $50-$300 for those sex acts , said Draper Police Sgt. Gerry Allred.
Detectives served a warrant at Zarif's South Mountain house Thursday where they seized two computers, two video cameras and about 30 packages that appeared to all contain CDs or videotapes, Allred said.
Some of the tapes were of young girls having sex with older men, he said, and appeared to have been recorded at Zarif's house.
Also seized from the house was a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and .23 ounces of the purest, and most potent, form of methamphetamine called "ice." Allred said police also seized phone records that contained the names of "numerous" girls as well as other lists that looked like possible ledgers.
The case came to light Feb. 12 when a 16-year-old girl and her mother told police that the young girl was paid to perform a sexual act on an unknown man.
She and a 16-year-old friend from high school were picked up by Zarif on Feb. 6 and taken back to his house, Allred said.
Along the way, Zarif made three phone calls, he said.
Three unidentified men later show up at Zarif's house, and the teens allegedly performed sex acts on them, Allred said.
One girl told police that this was the first time she had done this, and the other said she had been paid by Zarif before for similar acts, according to Allred.
According to the victims, Zarif allegedly told them that he and a brother had owned an escort service.
One of the 16-year-old victims was a runaway. Allred said Zarif apparently preyed on young estranged females or those in precarious situations, such as runaways, and recruited them.
Allred said the evidence seized from the house that investigators have viewed so far seemed, on the surface, to support the victims' statements.
One of the seized videotapes showed what appeared to be a young girl being recruited at a local mall, he said.
Allred said the problem of "street pimps" recruiting runaway girls wasn't completely uncommon, but something that others needed to be aware of so it can be stopped.
"These individuals prey on indigent-type females or young females that are in crisis or estranged from their families. That usually goes back to why (the girls) do these things," he said.
What makes this case a little different and more egregious is that the girls involved are all 16, if not younger, Allred said.
Police have seen at least four different girls on the videotapes they had viewed as of Friday. None of the "Johns" — or customers — in the tapes had been identified as of Friday.
Investigators believe there are possible other victims. They believe there are also girls that Zarif has allegedly tried to recruit who turned him down. Those girls are encouraged to also call police at 576-6300, Allred said.
Police have been to Zarif's house in the past. Allred said officers were called there over the summer to break up parties that involved mostly juveniles.
The Salt Lake County Division of Youth Services offers a variety of options to help runaways avoid those situations, including about 100 Safe Homes set up around the county. The homes are recognized with a large yellow triangle in the window. The homes can be anything from a fire station to a library.
"Running away is really not a solution," said division Director Pat Berckman.
At the Safe Homes, Berckman said runaways can talk to caring adults who will put them in contact with people who will try to figure out what's wrong with that person's home life.
Zarif moved to Utah from Southern California in 2003, Allred said. He had a number of weapons-related arrests in California but no court convictions, he said.
Allred said it was unknown Friday whether the videotapes were being distributed or downloaded to the Internet or part of a deeper child pornography ring. Possible federal charges are also pending, he said.
Detectives believe Zarif may have been working with at least one other adult female although he was the only one who had been arrested as of Friday.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com