Charges of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor against a Duchesne County School District employee have been dropped. Charges were filed last year
on May 4th
against 49-year-old Darin Ace Thomas including two 1st Degree Felony charges of Criminal Conspiracy, two 3rd Degree Felony charges of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, one 3rd Degree Felony charge of Criminal Conspiracy, and one Misdemeanor charge of Sexual Solicitation. Judge Clark McClellan signed the ‘Ruling and Order on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss’ last month on December 6th. That 11-page court document explained the court’s reasons for dismissing the charges. “The charges stem from phone calls, text messages, and conversations the Defendant had with an informant, who at times, was an undercover detective,” shares the document. “The Defendant argues the charges should be dismissed because the State failed to satisfy its burden to show probable cause necessary for a bindover.” On page 9 of the document it states, “The closest the Defendant came to requesting nude photos of the children came in the text exchange where he wrote that he was ‘tittering between wanting to see everything or not.’ The Court finds this evidence deficient to support the charges. There is no evidence that the Defendant specifically requested nude photos of underage girls. Consequently, the State has not met its burden showing the Defendant took a substantial step towards committing sexual exploitation of a minor.” While those charges were dismissed, Thomas will be held over for trial on the charge of Patronizing a Prostitute. On that charge, Thomas is scheduled to be in court
on January 28th.
