ST. GEORGE — Multiple individuals were arrested in St. George this weekend after investigators posed online as female prostitutes.
Updated June 3 at 9:45 a.m. to include additional arrests.
Officers posted the advertisements starting on Thursday, according to documents filed in 5th District Court.
Six men allegedly responded to the online ads: 32-year-old Rasheem Akeen Barrett, of St. George; 45-year-old Jay Lynn Farnsworth, of St. George; 44-year-old David Byron Johnson, of Holladay; 57-year-old John William Poglajen, of St. George; 23-year-old O’Broderic Mytiawo Sanders, of St. George; and 70-year-old Gary Lee Shockley, of St. George.
After receiving a response to the ad, investigators provided those involved with a specific hotel room in St. George to visit where they made contact with an undercover female officer.
The men agreed to pay money for specific sexual acts, according to the affidavits.
All six were arrested and booked on charges of patronizing a prostitute, a class A misdemeanor. Farnsworth was previously arrested for patronizing a prostitute in December after investigators posted similar ads online for female escort services, and Shockley was previously arrested in August.
In addition to the six men, two others were arrested over the weekend for alleged sexual solicitation. In the first incident, 42-year-old Reyes Agueero Ordonez, of Santa Clara, responded to the ads posted by officers and stated he would be willing to engage in a sexual act for a fee, according to the filing documents. Ordonez was arrested and booked on charges of sexual solicitation, a class A misdemeanor.
In the second incident, investigators located an online ad for female prostitution services in the St. George area, documents state. Undercover agents directed the woman who placed the ad – later identified as 52-year-old Michelle Debora Torrez, of Las Vegas – to the hotel and agreed to pay her to perform various sexual acts. Torrez was also arrested and booked on charges of sexual solicitation.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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