Salt Lake City • Child pornography arrests have nearly doubled in Utah over the last five years, mirroring a nationwide trend that experts say has been fueled by rapid developments in technology.
New advancements have both made it easier for users to find the images and for investigators to catch them, authorities said.
In 2013, Utah police arrested 133 people accused of downloading child pornography, according to department statistics. Last year, they arrested 226 people on such charges.
Child pornography crimes have steadily increased throughout the country as well. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit organization that works with victims of child abuse, received more than 18 million CyberTipline reports of possible cases in 2018, compared with 10 million reports in 2017, said John Shehan, a vice president at the center.