LAYTON — Police have arrested two men who they say used an app to arrange sex with a 13-year-old boy.
Both men began communicating with the boy, who posted that he was 18 years old but did not provide a photo, on Grindr, a networking app for gay men, according to police.
Police say that early Sunday morning, Dakota Stuart Freeman, 20, of Clearfield, went to the Holiday Inn Express where the boy was waiting at the door to his room, according to a jail booking report. When Freeman arrived at the hotel, 1695 Woodland Park Drive, the boy hurried him into the bathroom.
"Freeman said he was freaked out when he found out that somebody else was in the room and more so when he found out that it was the 13-year-old's parents," the report states.
After allegedly engaging in sexual conduct in the bathroom, the boy told Freeman he was 15 years old, police said.
The boy's parents "became suspicious" as Freeman was leaving and called police, according to Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman. Freeman left before police arrived but was later located and booked into Davis County Jail.
As officers arrived at the hotel, a second man, 28-year-old Davis Ellis, came looking for the boy, Lyman said. He too was arrested.
Ellis told police he and the boy had exchanged nude photos using the app after the boy, whose account indicated he was 18, invited him to come to the hotel where he was was staying with his parents, according to a jail report. When Ellis reportedly asked the boy whether he was looking for sex or drugs, the boy answered sex.
Freeman was booked into Davis County Jail for investigation of sodomy on a child. Ellis was booked for investigation of sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor. Neither man has a significant criminal history in Utah.
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