Morgan man pleads guilty to sexual abuse, child porn
OGDEN — A Morgan man charged with a number of sexual abuse and child pornography charges pleaded guilty Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Jared Byron Hoopes, 38, appeared in the 2nd District Court of Ogden for a pretrial hearing where his attorney indicated they had reached a resolution to the case. Hoopes pleaded guilty to sodomy on a child, a first degree felony; aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first degree felony; voyeurism, a third degree felony and five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree felonies.
As part of the plea deal, 23 of the 31 original charges were dismissed. The charge of sodomy on a child is punishable up to 25 years to life in prison.
Hoopes was arrested on Sept. 10 after being investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a police agency headed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office. A search warrant was served on his home in Morgan which yielded digital media depicting child pornography, according to court records.
“I was reviewing one of the videos and observed Jared Hoopes sexually abusing a female child,” wrote an ICAC officer in a probable cause affidavit filed against Hoopes. “I located several videos depicting Jared Hoopes sexually abusing a female child.”
The abused girls were positively identified by police, according to the affidavit.
A trial was previously set to begin Dec. 9 and run through Dec. 18, but was cancelled. A sentencing hearing is set for January 12, 2016.
Contact reporter Andreas Rivera at 801-625-4227 or arivera@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @SE_Andreas.