Brock R.

Belnap #6179
Washington County Attorney
33 North 100 West #200
St. George, Utah 84770
(435) 634-5723
______________________________________________________________________________

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT

WASHINGTON COUNTY, STATE OF UTAH

STATE OF UTAH, AFFIDAVIT OF PROBABLE CAUSE IN

Plaintiff, SUPPORT OF ARREST WARRANT

vs. Criminal No. 181501962

GARY EDWARD ERICKSON, Judge Eric A. Ludlow

Defendant.

STATE OF UTAH )
) ss.
COUNTY OF WASHINGTON )

I, Matthew Sherman, being of lawful age, and being first duly sworn upon oath, depose
and state as follows:

1. I am employed as a Detective for the St. George Police Department.

2. On August 20, 2018, I was assigned a possible sex offense involving a fifteen year
old juvenile male, (A.M.), and an unknown adult male.

3. On August 16, 2018, the juvenile’s parents, (R.M.) and (K.M.) reported that their son
had been sending and receiving nude photographs to/from an unknown adult male. These
alleged images had been sent via Snapchat communication. The juvenile only knew the
suspect male as Eric Smith, as the adult male’s Snapchat account name is Eric Smith.
The juvenile’s parents also reported their son telling them that he had met with "Eric" at
the Sand Hallow Aquatic Center, in St. George, Utah, on the evening of 8-3-18. The
juvenile male disclosed participating in sexual acts with the adult male in the facility’s
locker room.
4. On August 28, 2018 at approximately 1530 hours, (A.M.) arrived at the St. George
Children's Justice Center for his scheduled interview. During the interview, (A.M.)
disclosed meeting the adult male, around March of 2018, on a “gay” dating social media
app called “Grindr”. They communicated on this application for approximately one to
two weeks and then exchanged “Snapchat” information. The majority of their
communication from this point on occurred on the application Snapchat. (A.M.) admitted
that when he first signed up for Grindr, he presented himself as eighteen years of age,
which is the required minimum age to have an account on Grindr. Around the time he
and the suspect male exchanged Snapchat user information, (A.M.) claims he told the
adult male that he was only fifteen years old. The suspect male responded by saying,
“That doesn’t bother me.”

5. Over the next few months, (A.M.) claims he sent videos and pictures of his genitalia
Area to “Eric”. (A.M.) said the male would have him “hurt” his “private area” during the
videos. The suspect would also have (A.M.) find objects around his house to use on
himself, mentioning he used the objects to “slap” his buttocks and genital area with.
(A.M.) specifically mentioned using a “ping pong paddle” to hit his genitals with. (A.M.)
didn’t know exactly how many pictures and videos he sent to “Eric”.

6. (A.M.) recalled receiving two photographs from the suspect male via Snapchat. He
believes both of these photographs were sent sometime in July of 2018. The first of the
photographs was the male in a bathroom. It appeared the male had just exited the shower,
as there was fog on the mirror. The male had wiped away the fog from a portion of the
mirror, exposed his genitals. The suspect male took a photograph of his exposed genitals.
(A.M.) said he couldn’t make out any other detail of “Eric’s” body due to the fog on the
mirror. (A.M.) also disclosed receiving a photograph of the male driving to St. George,
presumably from Mesquite, Nevada, as this is where “Eric” told him he was from.

7. The photograph of the suspect driving was sent to (A.M.) on the evening of Friday 8-
3-18, which was the night “Eric” and (A.M.) scheduled to meet each other. Through
Snapchat communication, they planned to meet each other at the Sand Hallow Aquatic
Center in St. George, Utah. During the course of this investigation, (A.M.) presented the
text conversation he and “Eric” had with each other leading up to their visit at the aquatic
center. Many of the comments in the conversation were sexual in nature, which included
comments to shower with one another, as well as participating with each other in sexual
acts. During their conversation, they had originally planned to have “Eric” pick (A.M.)
up near his house. “Eric” asked, “How will I pick you up without being seen” and “What
will you tell your mom”. These comments suggest the suspect knew (A.M.) is a juvenile.

8. “Eric” mentioned he had a “scuba class” at the aquatic center and that the class was
supposed to start at 6:30 pm. (A.M.) arrived at Sand Hallow and waited in the locker
room, within a changing stall, for “Eric”. (A.M.) came out of the stall and saw the
suspect male. “Eric” took (A.M.) to a urinal. While in the urinal stall, “Eric” had (A.M.)
touch “Eric’s” genitals while “Eric” was going to the bathroom. “Eric” then took (A.M.)
to the back of the locker room, where he slapped (A.M.) on the buttocks and pinched his
pectoral area. “Eric” then left to participate in his scuba class. They made plans to meet
with each other after the class was over.

9. (A.M.) said the scuba class ended at approximately 8:45pm. He met “Eric” back in the
locker room at the conclusion of the class. They went into a changing stall within the
locker room. “Eric” slapped (A.M.) on the buttocks a couple of times. (A.M.) said that
“Eric” then began “masturbating me”. He confirmed that “Eric’s” hand was “stroking”
(A.M.) penis. “Eric” then wanted to go to the shower with (A.M.). (A.M.) said that “Eric”
continued “masturbating” him in the shower. (A.M.) confirmed he was nude while in the
shower. While he was stroking (A.M.) penis with one hand, “Eric” used his other hand to
“slap” (A.M.) testicles. (A.M.) confirmed he stroked “Eric’s” penis as well. “Eric” asked
(A.M.) if he wanted to have “sex”. (A.M.) described making up an excuse as to why he
had to go and confirmed they never had “sex” with one another.

10. (A.M.) described “Eric” as being “forty five-ish” years old. He said “Eric” had short
red hair, but was also going gray in some areas. He described “Eric” as balding on the
crown of his head. (A.M.) stated “Eric” was approximately six feet tall, adding that he
was “quite a bit” taller than (A.M.) was. He said that “Eric” had small eyebrows and
“smaller eyes”. (A.M.) said, “He was kind of pinker in the face”.

11. On 9-7-18, St. George Police Department detectives made contact with the local
scuba instructor who conducted the scuba class on the night in question. The scuba
instructor provided detectives with a spreadsheet of the students he certified between 7-1-
18 through 9-1-18. Detectives reviewed the spreadsheet and only found one individual
who lived out of the state of Utah. The name in question was a Gary Erickson (DOB: 8-
31-68), who had a home address in Bunkerville, Nevada (near Mesquite, Nevada). The
scuba instructor confirmed to detectives that Gary Erickson was part of the August 3,
2018 evening scuba class at the St. George Sand Hallow Aquatic Center.

12. Detectives further researched Gary in a law enforcement national database and
found a match. Gary’s personal information showed him as having a Nevada driver’s
license number. He was also listed as having red hair and being over six feet tall. Gary’s
physical description, as well him having an address near Mesquite, Nevada, was
consistent with the information (A.M.) provided about the suspect male he knew as
“Eric”. St. George detectives obtained a driver’s license photograph of Gary Erickson and
then put together a photo lineup for (A.M.) to view.

13. On September 7, 2018, (A.M.) responded to the St. George Police Department to
view the photo lineup which had been put together. (A.M.) positively identified Gary
Erickson as the adult male he knew as “Eric Smith”.
 14. Per the details of the juvenile male’s disclosure, as well as him identifying the
suspect male, I am requesting an arrest warrant for Gary Erickson. I believe probable
cause exists to charge Gary with one count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor, one count of
Dealing in Material Harmful to a Minor, and three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a
Minor. The Sexual Abuse of a Minor charge is for the sexual contact within the Sand
Hallow locker room. The Dealing in Material Harmful to a Minor charge is for the
genitals photograph sent to (A.M.) through Snapchat. The Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
charges are for the requested nude photographs and videos Gary had (A.M.) send to him
through Snapchat.

15. I believe it is necessary to issue a Warrant in this matter so that the defendant may
be located and be brought to face the charge(s) in this case.

I declare under criminal penalty under the law of Utah that the foregoing is true and
correct.

Signed on the 11th day of September , 2018 at St. George, Utah (City, State).

Matthew Sherman
Matthew Sherman, Printed Name

/s/ Matthew Sherman

Mathew Sherman, Signature