SALT LAKE CITY — A man wanted in Florida on charges of child rape has been arrested in Salt Lake after trying to solicit a juvenile for sex, according to police.
Brandon Severino, 30, was arrested Thursday for investigation of enticing a minor and five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
On Nov. 21, Severino started a conversation online with an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to a Salt Lake County Jail booking affidavit. He asked the “girl” if he could meet her for the purpose of having sex and later sent her child pornography, the affidavit states.
Detectives located Severino at an apartment in Salt Lake City and arrested him.
After his arrest, investigators learned Severino also has a warrant out for his arrest in Florida for rape of a child and is also on parole out of New York, according to the affidavit.
“I asked Brandon why he moved to Utah to live with his aunt and he stated he just needed a change of scenery,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Brandon is facing charges similar in other states and will likely flee Utah just as he has done in the past. ... Brandon has been actively searching for and making contact with females who he believes to be minors in Utah,” the officer wrote while asking that Severino be held without bail.