Taylorsville man charged after allegedly being found with 22 CSAM files on his accounts

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — A Taylorsville man has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor after law enforcement allegedly discovered 22 files of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his accounts.

Nicolas Jay Haynes, 31, has been charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies.

According to charging documents, the investigation began in September 2024, when officers with the Taylorsville and Centerville Police Departments received a cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about CSAM attached to a KIK messaging account. The tip included the username, email address, display name, electronic service provider user ID, and the users’ IP addresses.

Using a records search, investigators found that the IP addresses were registered to a Verizon phone number. Upon receiving a search warrant, Verizon provided the phone number. A detective located a photo sent through KIK, and facial recognition returned it to be a match for Haynes.

Investigators interviewed Haynes, and Haynes allegedly admitted to using KIK and gave his username, which matched the one from the tip. He reportedly told police that he used it to exchange images and “stuff.”

Haynes also allegedly admitted that there “might be” images of “other people’s kids” on his account, and he said that he had a “terrible curiosity” about CSAM and that the “sudden accessibility” was tempting. He reportedly said that he saw images of children as young as 5, 6, or 7 years old.

Police allegedly recovered three CSAM files from Haynes’ KIK account and 19 CSAM files on his Drop Box account.

He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail, where he is being held on $20,000 bail. His initial court appearance is scheduled for October 30.