Murray City firefighter arrested for allegedly possessing and distributing CSAM online

MURRAY, Utah (ABC4) — A Murray City firefighter has been arrested for allegedly viewing and sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) with an undercover investigator.

A 47-year-old man has been arrested on two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. Official charges have not been filed yet. ABC4 is not identifying the man in order to protect underage family members.

According to the arrest statement, between July 31 and Aug. 27, 2025, undercover officers performed an investigation into an online chat room. A member of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force posed as a father with “access” to an underage child.

The undercover investigator was soon contacted by another user, who allegedly had a conversation about “sexual interest in minors.” During this conversation, the undercover officer asked if the user was abusing his children, to which the user replied, “No, I wish.”

At this point, the conversation was moved to an encrypted messaging app. Investigators subpoenaed the online chatroom and were able to obtain an IP address for the user. They began investigating who the IP address was connected to.

Over the encrypted messaging app, the user allegedly mentioned that he was having conversations with pedophiles, who had shared CSAM with him. He stated that he was “hooked” and mentioned that he currently lived in Davis County. The user began sharing CSAM and sexual photos of underage children with the undercover officer.

On Aug. 25, subpoenaed information was returned to the investigators, identifying the user as the 47-year-old man. They discovered that he was working as a firefighter and had access to children the same age as those he had discussed online.

Two days later, on Aug. 27, the 47-year-old was arrested at a fire station in Murray and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where he is currently being held without bail.

“Murray City is aware that a city employee has been arrested. The employee has been placed on administrative leave while the City conducts an internal investigation. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings,” Fire Chief Joey Mittelman said in a statement to ABC4.com.

According to the arrest statement, the 47-year-old man was working as a firefighter and paramedic at Murray City Fire Department at the time of his arrest.