A Utah man already facing criminal charges accusing him of soliciting an undercover agent posing as a teenage girl online is now charged with sexually abusing an actual teenage girl he met online while he was out of jail for his first case.
Richard Paul Healey, 34, of American Fork, was charged Friday in 4th District Court with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticing a minor, a second-degree felony.
Healey already faces charges of enticing a minor, dealing in harmful materials to a minor, and 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies, that were filed in 3rd District Court in November.
In that case, investigators say Healey was a member of an online social media group titled "Utah Teens 13-19." A member of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force posed as a 12-year-old girl on that group, and Healey reached out to "her," according to charging documents.
The undercover agent told Healey she was a girl in the seventh grade, but Healey "told her that age didn't matter and "asked if the girl wanted to date him even though he is older," the charges state.
Healey was arrested on Nov. 11, 2022, and then released from jail to pretrial services. After he was released, investigators received the results of a search on Healey's phone and found 950 child pornography images, according to court documents. On Jan. 23, prosecutors successfully petitioned to have Healey's bail revoked and he was taken into custody again.
But according to his new charges, Healey was on the Spotafriend app on Jan. 14. The app bills itself as "a Tinder alternative for people ages 13-19."
"(Healey) started chatting with the victim, who is 13 years old, and convinced her to meet late at night near a grocery store in Lehi. The victim met the defendant around 4 a.m. and they walked down the street and went behind another business that was closed," the charges state.
Police say Healey inappropriately touched the girl. Then on Jan. 18, Healey picked up the girl from her junior high school, took her to his house and inappropriately touched her again, the charges allege. He then drove her back to school.
When police became aware of what was happening, the girl said she did not know Healey's name but was able to pick him out of a photo lineup, according to the charging documents.
"(Healey) was a stranger to the victim and made contact with her for the purpose of meeting and engaging sexual acts," the charges say.