6 men arrested in Southern Utah on conspiracy to commit child rape charges

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ST. GEORGE — A multiagency law enforcement operation in Southern Utah netted the arrest of six men, including a St. George Army recruiter, for alleged conspiracy to commit child rape, among other charges, after the men allegedly arranged to have sex with young girls.

The joint criminal operation was conducted by the Parowan Police Department, Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Iron County Attorney’s Office, Iron-Garfield-Beaver Narcotics Task Force, Homeland Security Investigation, Utah Highway Patrol and Veterans for Child Rescue.

As part of the child sex sting, investigations into several additional suspects are ongoing, authorities said Sunday.

Jason Livermore, 30, and Floyd Jennings, 71, both of St. George; James Garrelts, 53, of Cedar City; Trevor Bodily, 31, of Clearfield; Carlos Valenzuela Nunez, 30, of Enterprise; and Phillip Gerstner, 30, of Jerome, Idaho, were each arrested after arriving at an undisclosed location in northern Iron County to meet 13-year-old girls with whom they had allegedly arranged to have sex.

The men traveled to the area after separately responding to an ad placed on “websites known to produce child trafficking activities and child predators,” authorities said Sunday.

“In a joint operation using a confidential informant an ad was placed on various social media websites. The ad had a picture of two young females with a phone number and a link to other sites,” Parowan Police Chief Ken Carpenter said in a statement, adding:

The suspects contacted the number and exchanged several phone conversations or text messages with the CI. In the conversations the CI made it clear they would be having sex with one or more 13-year-old children. The suspects agreed to the terms for location, time and payment and requested one or both 13-year-old girls.

Conversations with each suspect included ground rules and confirmation of the sex acts to be performed, police said. The suspects would call the specified number to say when they were en route from different locations to the house in Paragonah.

“When they arrived at the off ramp, the suspects called the CI and she stayed on the phone to guide them to the residence,” Carpenter said in the statement. “The suspects had already negotiated to pay for sex with one or both 13-year-old girls.”

Once money was exchanged at the home and elements of the crimes were confirmed, law enforcement officers moved in and made the arrest.

Jason Everette Livermore, a full-time Army recruiter in St. George, was arrested Thursday and charged with two first-degree felony counts of criminal solicitation involving conspiracy to commit child rape and forcible sodomy and a second-degree felony count of enticing a minor by internet.

Livermore allegedly admitted to police that he had driven to Paragonah from St. George to have vaginal and anal sex with a 39-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter, the arresting officer wrote in a probable cause statement, adding:

(Livermore) stated that he knew what he was doing was wrong. He claims he has never done this in the past but did have full intentions for completing the sex acts today with the child.

Jennings, Garrelts and Bodily were arrested and booked into jail on two first-degree felony counts each of conspiracy to commit child rape, according to police. Bodily also was booked on a misdemeanor count of failing to stop at the command of a peace officer.

Nunez and Gerstner were arrested and booked on one first-degree felony count each of conspiracy to commit child rape, according to police.

Formal charges had not been filed for Jennings, Garrelts, Bodily, Nunez nor Gerstner on Utah Court Xchange Monday.

According to Utah Court documents, the six men have no other criminal history in Utah.

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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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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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15 Comments

  • Real Life February 19, 2018 at 12:27 pm

    Scumbags. Throw away the key.

    • Real Life February 19, 2018 at 12:28 pm

      And when is something going to be done about the sickos in Colorado City?

  • comments February 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    no morality. if i heard about some adult prostituting or “pimping” some 12-13yos at the very least i’d call the cops, and if i took it into my own hands the perp may very well not survive the encounter.

    there’s no excuse for what these men attempted to do and they will be punished for it.

    morality, people, get it and live by it.

  • Striker4 February 19, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    Oh wow Prophet Bob your a real tough guy I’m sure you got them shaking in their boots now !

  • Travis February 19, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    I’ve only been here in Washington County 18 months and OMG, I cannot believe the white trash pervert crimes in this county — and I’m from Manhattan.

    • comments February 19, 2018 at 8:49 pm

      Probably bc in NYC child rape is so common it isn’t even newsworthy. And really, did you read the paper there everyday?

  • jaybird February 19, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    Real dirt bags. Give em the max…

  • jaybird February 19, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    Whatz the goofy smile on Jennings face. Guess hes looking forward to being the jailhouse bitch.

  • PlanetU February 19, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    horn dogs……the old guy looks like a bishop from “THE church,” you know the one and only true church….

  • comments February 19, 2018 at 8:53 pm

    And Phillip Gerstner is/was some kind of college professor in Idaho. He made quite the drive.

    There was also a mexican guy that they arrested, and he drove from CA with plans to abduct the 13yr olds and force them into prostitution. He also made a long drive.

    • Ben February 19, 2018 at 11:06 pm

      He is not a college professor. He’s a mortgage broker. He’s in my Ward. Feel sorry for his wife and kids.

      • comments February 20, 2018 at 10:40 am

        I guess abc4 news is peddling inaccurate info.

        He’ll prob not be in your ward after this…

      • comments February 20, 2018 at 12:52 pm

        what would a person even tell their wife with something like that? I mean, the guy was trying to set up a scenario where he was going to pay money to rape a 13 year old. I wonder if any marriage could survive that. It’ll likely be at least 3 years in prison for him too, and a lifetime offender status. Don’t know what gets into people’s minds to do this kind of stuff…

  • Diana February 19, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    Army recruiter?? An absolute disgrace to our military and our country!!

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