A South Jordan police officer is charged with extortion after his body camera records him talking about what he did to his ex-wife

A former South Jordan police officer has been charged with a felony and is accused of extorting his ex-wife.

Investigators were tipped off to what Jonathan Mangum had done, court papers say, because his body camera recorded him telling a domestic violence suspect about it.

Charging documents say Mangum, 31, used a compromising photo of his ex-wife to stop her from trying to get part of his retirement and pension. He did not appear to use the photo to get custody of the couples’ two young children.

Mangum was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with second-degree felony theft by extortion. The charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

He resigned from the South Jordan Police Department on Oct. 11, according to city spokeswoman Tina Brown, before investigators reviewed the body camera footage. Mangum had been a police officer for South Jordan for a couple years, Brown said.

Mangum responded to a report of domestic violence on Aug. 27, according to the probable cause statement. While talking to the suspect of domestic violence, Mangum reportedly said that he had used a compromising photo of his ex-wife to “force her to back off pursuing a share of his pension during divorce proceedings,” court documents state.

He also told the domestic violence suspect that he had threatened to get the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) involved if she didn’t leave his pension alone. He reportedly said he’d post the photo on Facebook, show it to her parents, and said he’d “f------ ruin your a--,” according to the probable cause statement.

She backed off after the threat, Mangum is recorded saying. The conversation ended with Mangum reportedly saying that it “sucks you gotta play dirty games like that,” court documents state.

A police officer interviewed Mangum’s ex-wife on Sept. 27. She confirmed that her ex-husband had texted her the photo when threatening her about her receiving part of his pension. The photo made her back off, she said, adding she didn’t want to take the risk of Mangum posting the photo, which “scared” and “embarrassed” her.

Police also searched Mangum’s phone, and found text messages from April, May and June that matched what he was recorded telling the domestic violence suspect.

The question of Mangum’s retirement/pension had come up during a May mediation, court documents state. After the meeting, Mangum sent a series of text messages saying that he would post the photo to Facebook and that he’d call DCFS. In her responding text message, she told him she would waive the pension and they could work things out if he went back to mediation.

The divorce degree states that his ex-wife would not receive any of the pension. According to the probable cause statement, Mangum’s ex-wife had a right to more than $5,000 of the retirement benefits.

According to court documents from the couple’s divorce, they were married in 2009 and have two children under the age of ten together.