MURRAY — A man recently convicted of posing as a teen boy on Snapchat and sexually assaulting a young girl after luring her out of her house has been arrested again as investigators continue to look at his old case.
Arik James Jeppsen, 20, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
In February, Jeppsen was sentenced to four years of probation for his conviction on two counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. In addition, he was given a suspended one- to 15-year sentence in the Utah State Prison as well as credit for the nearly one year he spent in jail following his arrest. Jeppsen was also ordered to complete sex offender therapy and register as a sex offender in Utah as part of his sentence.
In that case, Jeppsen was 19 when he posed as a 16-year-old boy on Snapchat and began talking with a 12-year-old girl. Those conversations led to him picking up the girl and driving her to his house, where he sexually assaulted her.
The event was traumatic for the girl and her family, prompting the girl’s mother to issue a warning to other parents so the same thing wouldn't happen to them. The mother was also critical of how her case was handled by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
According to a probable cause statement filed by police on Wednesday, investigators had seized several laptops when Jeppsen was originally arrested last year and sent them to be examined. On March 8, police were notified “that the results of the laptop were now available and that child pornography was possibly on the laptops,” the affidavit states.
Police found images of “hundreds of prepubescent girls who were approximately 10-12 years” being raped and sexually abused, according to the affidavit.
After receiving that information, police contacted Jeppsen by phone and asked him about the alleged child pornography found on his laptop. He told the detective “that he used to have a problem with that — child pornography — but not anymore,” the affidavit states.
Brian Morris, who represented Jeppsen during his last case, declined comment Wednesday, stating he had not been presented with information yet related to Jeppsen’s latest arrest.
The mother of the girl he was convicted of abusing said she was elated to learn of Jeppsen’s arrest.
“I think I actually screamed out loud in complete delight,” she said. “It’s where he belongs, and had the case been handled the right way from the start, he still would have been there.
“He was treated like a sweet, innocent, first-time offender when in actuality he’s a very sick man who is clearly a danger to our society. He can rest assured that we will be watching this unfold and making sure we know his every move,” she continued. “This news is the best news our family has had in over a year.”