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Salt Lake County prosecutors have charged a Copperton man with five felonies for allegedly paying middle school-aged boys to take off their clothes for him and showing them pornography.
Michael Wade Heagren self-surrendered to Salt Lake County authorities on Friday morning and was booked into jail, his attorney, Paul Grant, told The Tribune.
Heagren posted $75,000 cash bail and was expected to be released, Grant said.
Court papers filed Wednesday in West Jordan's 3rd District Court charge Heagren with five counts of dealing in harmful material to a minor. Each of the third-degree felonies carries a possible punishment of up to five years in prison.
"He's very humbled by the whole thing, he's very contrite," Grant said. "But as you can tell from the charging documents, there was no touching."
The 55-year-old Heagren, who is an accountant for the Park City School District, met the boys while serving as a volunteer basketball coach at a Copperton middle school, Grant said.
Jordan School District spokeswoman Sandra Riesgraf said Heagren was not employed as a coach for the district, but may have worked with an after-school program run by Salt Lake County's Parks and Recreation division which contracts to use district schools, including those in Copperton.
County parks director Martin Jensen referred all questions about Heagren to prosecutors.
Park City district officials did not immediately return a telephone message on Friday.
Charges allege that between May 2014 and May 2015, the boys were hired to do chores for Heagren at his home and at a family cabin. After one trip to the cabin with three of the boys, Heagren allegedly offered each of them $50 if they would lie naked in a stream. The boys complied as Heagren watched while standing at his nearby truck, court papers say.
One of the boys told police he had been promised $30 for the cabin chores, but was paid $80 that day by Heagren, the documents state.
In a second incident at Heagren's home, two boys told police they were offered $20 to undress and run back and forth in a field while naked. Both again complied while Heagren looked on, court papers say.
As they dressed, the boys said Heagren made jokes and showed them pornographic magazines, according to the charges.
Prosecutors also alleged that on two separate incidents Heagren texted pictures of naked women to one of the boys. That message appears to have been intercepted by a parent, who then contacted Heagren, according to the documents.
In a follow-up text to the boy, Heagren wrote: "Hey bud, your mom sent me a message. Sorry I had you and [another boy] go streaking and pornography. Take care and work hard," the documents say.
No court hearings have been set in the case.