Lehi City News
2025 TOP TEN LEHI NEWS STORIES: #5 Lehi police arrest 7‑Eleven clerk, others in 2025 sex‑crime investigations
Jennifer Thomas | Lehi Free Press
The Lehi Police Department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) is vital in protecting the most vulnerable among us. While SVU handled approximately 153 investigations in 2024, the department saw a significant increase in the first seven months of 2025, with 110 cases. The presence of LPD’s dedicated investigators sends a powerful message that these crimes will not be tolerated and that victims will be supported through the pursuit of justice.
Lehi’s SVU division is affiliated with the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). The SVU team at Lehi has investigated many crimes in 2025 that are initiated with an SVU Investigator in an online conversation with a suspect, indicating that they are minors. Messages are exchanged between the suspect and the investigator until the suspect steers the conversation in a sexual direction.
In June 2025, the Lehi Police Department introduced Digi, a highly trained Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) dog to the K9 team.
ESD refers to the use of specially trained dogs to locate hidden electronic devices that may contain digital evidence, such as those used in criminal investigations. These dogs are trained to detect the unique chemical signatures of electronic storage media, including SIM cards, SD cards, hard drives, and cell phones.
K9 Digi is trained to locate devices, even when they are hidden in unusual places, such as behind outlet covers, inside walls, or underwater.
K9 Digi is assigned to the SVU, given the growing prevalence of digital evidence in criminal investigations. Digi plays a critical role in identifying hidden electronic storage devices in cases involving:
- Child sexual exploitation
- Human trafficking
- Domestic violence and stalking
- Financial and white-collar crimes
- Homicide and murder-for-hire
In Oct. 2025, a 21-year-old male was arrested by Lehi Police after engaging in an inappropriate online conversation with a Lehi minor.
Thanks to vigilant parents, the Lehi Police Department was notified of the online conversation before the situation escalated. After the incident was reported, Lehi Police investigated the crime and launched a successful online sting operation in which the Lehi SVU/ICAC task force apprehended the suspect, who was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges related to the investigation.
“The committed SVU detectives spend a lot of time doing undercover chat investigations between working their other cases, which includes after work hours, during family dinner, kids’ sports events, late at night, or on the weekends. These perpetrators don’t just want to talk during business hours; it is all the time,” said Lehi Police Sergeant Jeffrey Smith.
An arrest was made in Lehi in Oct. after a man from Texas traveled to Utah to meet with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl for a sexual encounter. Instead, the suspect from Texas was met by Lehi Police officers and arrested. Lehi investigators worked with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force to conduct the online sting operation.
Other sex-related crimes involving abuse and assault were investigated in 2025 by the Lehi Police. In Oct., a Lehi 7-Eleven convenience store clerk was booked into the Utah County Jail following an investigation of sexual assault of a female who had entered the store in the early morning hours. The suspect was charged in Utah Fourth District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony; and unlawful detention and lewdness, both class B misdemeanors.
If you suspect or someone you know is experiencing abuse, contact the Lehi Police Department at 385-201-1005 or call the Child Abuse/Neglect Hotline at 855-323-3237. You can also contact the Utah Office for Victims of Crime at 801-238-2360. Additionally, the Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic provides legal services to crime victims.
