Salt Lake man charged for making plans to meet stranger and sexually abuse child, documents say

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A Salt Lake City man has been arrested and charged after making plans to meet up with an online stranger — who was an undercover investigator — and abuse an 11-year-old child.

Maclovio Coronel, 21, was charged with three felony counts of attempted sodomy on a child and one felony count of enticement of a minor.

On June 5, 2025, documents say that a West Valley City Police officer who works with the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force (CETF) used social media to pose as an adult who said they had “sexual access to a child under 12 years old.”

The post said the man was “looking for a possible third” person to join, and was not directed toward anyone in particular, documents say. Coronel responded quickly to the post and began conversing with the undercover officer, according to police.

The conversation moved to a separate social media platform, where the undercover investigator said that they had “access” to an 11-year-old family member. Coronel responded with interest and began making graphic sexual comments, and said that the two should “hang out” sometime.

The investigator asked if Coronel had any child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and Coronel responded that he had some from “old groups,” according to documents. Coronel again asked to “meet up” and made more graphic sexual comments about who he believed was an 11-year-old.

Coronel and the undercover investigator made plans to meet up that day, June 5. According to documents, he was “given multiple ‘outs’ throughout the conversation, meaning opportunities to disengage from criminal conduct.” Instead of disengaging, he continued plans to meet up, and even said he was “begging” to.

Documents say that Coronel took a 40-minute train ride on Trax with a bicycle to meet up with the man he had met online. Only two and a half hours had elapsed between Coronel making contact with the investigator at 9 p.m. and his arrival at the meeting location at 11:26 p.m.

CETF members surveilled the area and saw Coronel exit the train with a bike. When he arrived at the meeting location, he was taken into custody by investigators. The detective sent a message through the account, and Coronel’s phone allegedly received a notification while they observed.

“Coronel’s lack of concern for the child’s safety, immediate willingness to travel to sexually abuse a child, and comments about begging to sexually abuse a child show that he is a substantial danger to any child in the community,” the arresting officer wrote in his probable cause statement.

Coronel was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and is currently being held without bail. He has an initial appearance before a judge on June 11.