Two men who agreed to meet someone they thought was an year-old man traveling with his parents are in Davis County Jail after finding the blank profile was actually a year-old boy.
Police say that the year-old downloaded the Grindr app onto his smart phone, posed as an year-old and began interacting with men, including Dakota Freeman, 20, of Clearfield and David Ellis, Most men using the service are seeking sexual relations with other men, though some are seeking longer-term relationships.
Freeman showed up at the Layton Holiday Inn Express hotel late Sunday, June 7, went through the lobby, and met the boy at the door of the room. The boy sneaked Freeman into the room where his parents were sleeping and into the bathroom at the front of the room. Police say the pair had sexual relations.
The boy responded he was alright and the father returned to his bed. He awoke again, however, as Freeman left the room. By the time police arrived, Freeman was well away from the hotel, but Ellis approached the room, apparently looking for the boy, and was arrested. A jail report shows that Ellis told police he and the boy exchanged nude photos using the app after the boy invited him to come to the hotel where he was was staying with his parents. Ellis reportedly asked the boy whether he was looking for sex or drugs and the boy answered sex.
A person is guilty of sodomy upon a child if he engages in any sexual act upon or with a child who is under the age of It is a first degree felony punishable by a mandatory term of imprisonment of not less than 25 years. Ellis was booked for investigation of sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor, though he never met the boy face-to-face.
