Former FLDS Utah Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison After Admitting to Grooming and Sexually Abusing a Teenage Girl

Salt Lake City, Utah – A Washington County, Utah man was sentenced Wednesday to five years imprisonment, and 15-years supervised release, after pleading guilty to the use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor. 

According to court documents, James Steed Allred, 41, of Apple Valley, targeted a 14-year-old victim by using a fake social media account.  Allred admitted to using a fake online persona in April 2020 to contact the teen who was living in North Dakota.  Using a Snapchat account, he represented to the victim he was a teenage boy living in Washington County, Utah, and provided fake photos.  Allred engaged in extensive romantic communication and sent gifts to the victim in an attempt to engage in illegal sexual activity with the minor.  In April 2021, shortly after the teenage victim moved to Colorado City, Arizona with her family, Allred traveled from Utah to Arizona and engaged in illegal sexual conduct with the victim multiple times while continuing to deceive the teen that he was a teenage boy.

“The United States. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting minor victims from violent criminals who prey on their innocence via the internet,” said U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “Thanks to our law enforcement partners we were able to investigate this case and seek justice for the victim as she continues to heal from the trauma inflicted by this crime."

The case was investigated by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Stephen Dent, for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.