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PAYSON — A man arrested and accused of taking pictures of adults and children without permission at a Payson pool is now facing more serious allegations after police say they found child sex abuse material on his phone.
On June 26, Steven Ross Daley, 59, was arrested and later charged in Payson Justice Court with disorderly conduct, an infraction, after police were called to the Payson Community Pool, 655 S. Main, "on the report of an adult male taking pictures of children and adults without their knowledge or consent."
Police say because Daley was taking pictures of children in their swimwear, his phone was seized and officers obtained a search warrant to go through it.
"While searching the 70,000 plus images, multiple images of children at the swimming pool, and images of children Steven had extracted from the LDS 'Members Tools' phone application were found. Among the many images of children, I discovered seven child sexual abuse material images. Additionally, thousands more pornographic images of females ranging in age 18-90 years old, and images of a woman wearing swimming attire that Steven had secretly captured in places other than the pool," according to a police booking affidavit filed in court Wednesday.
The Member Tools app provides members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with contact information for their own local ward and stake members as well as an events calendar.
Police say in reviewing the contents of Daley's phone, they "observed a pattern of escalating behavior. The browser history shows multiple pornographic voyeurism searches and website visits, multiple images of children and the seven child sex abuse material images. Steven is later caught taking pictures of women and children at the Payson pool and other locations nearby," the affidavit states. "Based on my training and experience, I know it is only a matter of time before Steven moves from digital viewing to physical interaction and viewing of children."
Daley was booked into the Utah County Jail Wednesday for investigation of seven counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He is scheduled to be back in court on Aug. 14.
