Payson Roundup

A 72-year-old Payson man indicted on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor pled not guilty Tuesday, Oct. 13, in an arraignment hearing held in Payson.

Payson police arrested the man on Oct. 5 on three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after a computer technician reportedly uncovered several images of underage girls on the man’s computer while trying to fix viruses on the machine.

The man originally posted $15,000 bond and was released from the Gila County Jail Oct. 6.

On Oct. 7, a grand jury raised the total number of counts against the man to 10 and set a $100,000 bond.

Police rearrested the man on Oct. 8 and booked him into the jail. On Oct. 9, the man’s bond was lowered to $15,000 by Gila County Superior Court Judge Peter Cahill, which the man paid and was released on bond.

A case management date has been set for Nov. 9 at 9 a.m.

It is the Roundup’s policy not to name victims or suspects in sex crimes. Suspects will be identified after a conviction.

On Oct. 2, several computer technicians reportedly found pornographic images of underage girls on the man’s computer, according to a police report.

The technicians said, “that the pictures appeared to be actual photos that were scanned onto the computer” and that there “were more than they ever wanted to try to count.”

The man told Payson Police Detective Matt Van Camp that he had nothing to do with the images and that they appeared because of a virus.