SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man was charged Monday with enticing a minor after allegedly engaging in explicit online conversations with three undercover officers.
Sidney James Branch Jr., 30, is charged in 3rd District Court with enticing a minor, a second-degree felony; and six counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony.
On Aug. 30, Branch is accused of communicating online with a member of the State Bureau of Investigation who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. Over the next several weeks, Branch sent the “girl” several sexually explicit messages and six pornographic videos, according to charging documents.
Investigators then learned that Branch had also engaged in explicit conversations with at least two other undercover agents with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, the charges state.
When interviewed by police during his arrest, Branch said he enjoys talking to people and that he “cannot control or help it and age is not too much of a factor,” according to the charges.