A 31-year-old Oregon man has been acquitted of all charges related to allegations that he received nude photos of a 13-year-old Roosevelt girl that were taken by her mother.
Daniel Dean Divine was charged in 8th District Court with three counts of sexual exploitation, a second-degree felony, and misdemeanor enticing a minor over the Internet.
On Tuesday, an eight-person jury found Divine not guilty on all the charges, according to Duchesne County Attorney Stephen Foote.
Foote said Wednesday that he thought the jury may have been confused about the issue, which may have led to the not guilty verdict.
"I’m just sad for the victim in this case," he said.
Foote said that the victim and her mother, along with a patrol officer, testified on Tuesday about the nude photos. Divine also took the stand on Tuesday, Foote said, and denied ever receiving any of the photos.
A key witness, Divine’s stepfather, was unable to testify on Tuesday because he had attempted suicide and was in a treatment center in Oregon, Foote said. The step-father, who lived with Divine in Oregon, was planning to testify that he saw the nude photos on Divine’s computer, Foote said.
Foote said they tried to delay the trial in order to bring the step-father to Utah, but a judge denied the request.
According to court documents, the 13-year-old girl’s mother allegedly helped her daughter take nude photos after the girl couldn’t figure out how to use the iPhone that Divine had sent her as a gift.
The 36-year-old mother knew the photos were being sent to Divine, according to court documents.
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The teen "realized Daniel was older and wanted to have sex so she took the photos just to keep him happy," a Duchesne County sheriff’s deputy wrote in a probable cause statement filed in court.
The mother told police she asked her daughter "if she was sure she wanted to send these photos," the document states, but still took three photos of her daughter after the girl had just taken a shower.
Police say Divine sent the girl the iPhone and a camera, which already had on it photos of the man, shirtless and holding a teddy bear the girl had once given him as a Valentine’s Day gift.
Divine requested the nude photos when he sent her the iPhone, court documents state.
The girl’s mother told police Divine was a "very good friend of the family" and that he and her daughter "were going to wait until she was 18 years old before they had a sexual relationship," court documents state.
The mother, 36, pleaded guilty in December to child abuse, a third-degree felony, and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 14.
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