Tanner Chase Willson, a 21-year-old resident of Wellington City, was recently charged in the Seventh District Court with 52 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, which is a second-degree felony.
Initially, according to court records, Willson was charged in August of sexually abusing a minor and was sentenced to spend time in the Carbon County Jail, as well as three years of probation. Along with the jail time and the probation, Willson was ordered to commit to sex offender treatment.
However, in April of this year, it came to the attention of officers of Adult Probation and Parole (AP&P) that Willson was violating the conditions of his probation. This was proven through screenshots that were provided to AP&P, that verified that Willson had a false Snapchat account. This prompted officers to confront Willson and search his phone, where pornographic images and videos were discovered.
Furthermore, officers gained knowledge that Willson had not been attending treatment the way that he was ordered. Counselors informed Willson that, due to COVID-19, he was allowed to do individual therapy over the phone. However, he had not reached out to continue treatment.
Willson is scheduled for an initial court appearance on the morning of Monday, May 4.