Utah man, a registered sex offender, arrested for trying to entice a minor over the internet

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An Ogden man who is a registered sex offender has been arrested by Utah County authorities for allegedly trying to entice a minor over the internet and dealing in harmful materials to a minor — just months after being released from prison on a sex-abuse related conviction.

Jason Wayne Jones, 37, was released from prison in March.

In mid-September, police investigators began communicating with Jones, who arranged to meet a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl, according to a news release from the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

On Wednesday, when Jones arrived at a Provo park with the alleged intention of having sexual relations with the girl — actually an undercover detective — he was arrested, the news release said.

Jones was booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of second-degree felony enticing, soliciting or luring a minor by internet or text, and third- degree felony dealing in harmful materials to a minor. A judge set bail for Jones at $10,000, cash-only.

Jones was released from prison on March 26, after serving a five-year prison sentence. Because he served his full sentence, Jones was not on parole, the news release said. He is, however, a registered sex offender, the sheriff's office noted.

In February 2010, Jones was charged in Ogden's 2nd District Court with two counts of third-degree felony unlawful sexual relations with a 16- or 17-year-old. He pleaded guilty to one of those counts, as part of a plea deal, and was sentenced in April 2011 to a zero-to-five-year prison term, court records show.

Also in 2011, Jones pleaded guilty to a reduced class A misdemeanor count of sexual battery in Provo's 4th District Court. He was sentenced to probation and 120 days in jail, but his probation was later revoked because of the Ogden case, and he was sentenced to one year in jail, to run concurrent to the Ogden case, court records show.