SALT LAKE CITY — A man who investigators say was trading child pornography on social media and talking with others about sexually abusing children now faces multiple felony charges.
Christopher Leo Samora, 31, of Salt Lake City, was charged Thursday by the Utah Attorney General’s Office in 3rd District Court with six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began Aug. 9 when Facebook reported an account registered to Samora “had been chatting and exchanging child pornography via Facebook Messenger,” according to charging documents.
On Wednesday, members of the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children task force served a search warrant on Samora’s residence. Investigators searched his Facebook account and his cellphone.
“Evidence was found that Samora had been chatting through Facebook and KiK with other users in which they discussed specific incidents where they chatted with underaged children online and enticed them to perform sexual acts. The users then recorded the abuse and exchanged the child sexual abuse material with Samora at his request,” according to the charges.
Prosecutors are requesting Samora be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail because he was not only distributing child pornography, but also “was chatting with users about sexually abusing children and requested sexual abuse material from other users,” the charges state.
“Samora discussed locations and opportunities to target young boys. In the chats, Samora purports to having sex with a 16-year-old.”