LOCAL NEWS

Payson man arrested, accused of 60 counts of child sex abuse

Jan 13, 2025, 5:10 PM | Updated: Jan 16, 2025, 2:18 pm

(FILE) - A sign at the entrance to the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork is pictured on Monday, Marc...

(FILE) - A sign at the entrance to the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork is pictured on Monday, March 22, 2021. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)

(Steve Griffin, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — A Payson man was booked into the Utah County Jail and faces 60 charges related to child sex abuse.

On Monday morning, Justin Steven Close, 37, was booked into the Utah County Jail.

According to a booking affidavit, Payson police were alerted through a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip indicated that someone using a social media platform had sent files containing images of children being sexually abused to another user on the platform.

Close became the primary suspect when police noticed correlations between law enforcement databases and the tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Email helped identify the Payson suspect

Police said they found Close’s email address in one of their database searches. It was the same email that was provided to police during a previous encounter.

The email included his telephone number and home address.

While police were investigating Close, they said three other tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were discovered. They were all reportedly tied to Close’s identifying information.

Justin Steven Close was booked into the Utah County Jail. He is facing 30 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony. He also faces 30 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.


If you have experienced sexual violence, you can access help and resources by calling Utah’s 24-hour Sexual Violence Help Line at 1-801-736-4356 (English) or 1-801-924-0860 (Spanish). You can also call the Rape Recovery Center office line during office hours at 801-467-7282 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for free, confidential counseling.

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Payson man arrested, accused of 60 counts of child sex abuse