Charges Filed Against Man Accused of Offering Teens $70K For Sex, Baby

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah – A man accused of offering $70,000 in exchange for a teenager having his baby was formally charged with several felonies Monday, and had a $250,000 warrant issued for his arrest.

Steven Eric Graham, 28, was charged with three counts of felony sexual exploitation of a minor, an additional felony count of enticing a minor and a misdemeanor count of sexual battery.

The charges encompassed additional alleged crimes uncovered during an investigation from Unified Police Department, including a case in which a 16-year-old girl claimed Graham forced himself on her and touched her inappropriately through her clothing.

The investigation began in early September with a note left on a car in Riverton that had been occupied at some point by four teenage girls.

The note, according to a probable cause statement, offered $70,000 if one of the girls would have a baby and included a phone number.

Upon learning about the incident on Facebook, Coleman Butterfield said he reached out to the mother of one of the teenage girls and obtained the number from the note.

“If this was my child, I couldn’t even imagine having to go through something like that with her, you know,” said Butterfield, who has a 10-year-old daughter.

Butterfield said he posed as a 15-year-old girl and texted the number, saying he was interested in the $70,000.

“He willingly was all about it,” Butterfield said during an interview Monday.

Butterfield said Graham claimed his grandfather wanted him to have a child, and that the money would come from a trust fund.

“He went to town texting me that he wanted to meet me, and he told me a time, a place, sent me a picture, told me what he drove—everything—and he showed up at that time in the same clothes he was (wearing) in the picture. He was there for having sex with a 15-year-old girl.”

The two agreed to meet at a McDonald’s location in Herriman, and Butterfield said police were notified once the man identified as Graham showed.

Graham, according to the charging documents, subsequently admitted to leaving the note on the car to solicit sex, as well as to showing up to McDonald’s with the intent of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The probable cause statement also said Graham admitted to exchanging photographs of a “sexual nature” with several 15-year-old girls through phone apps including KIK, Plenty of Fish, TEXTNOW and Snapchat.
Graham, according to the documents, told investigators he had seven child pornography images saved in his Dropbox account.

Police obtained a search warrant and downloaded the contents, according to the probable cause statement, and officers “located hundreds of images of pornography depicting young girls, most of which appeared they could possibly be underage.”

Charging documents stated that Graham also admitted to making out with a 16-year-old girl he met at work, but the girl told investigators Graham walked her to her car and then kissed her and touched her inappropriately over her clothing before the teen ultimately pushed Graham away.

Investigators, according to the documents, found the conversation between Graham and Butterfield in Graham’s TEXTNOW account, as well as “several other conversations Graham had with underage girls, offering to pay them $70,000 to have a baby with him.”

“Officers also located several conversations between Graham and unidentified mothers claiming Graham had sent “filth” to their daughters’ phones,” the probable cause statement read.

Butterfield said he was glad his actions helped lead to charges in the case, and encouraged all parents to keep an eye out for who their children are interacting with online.

“I mean, watch your kids!” Butterfield said. “There’s people that don’t have the best interest out for them.”