A jury on Friday found a former Saratoga Springs police officer guilty of having sexual contact with a teenager that he met online.
Aaron D. Rosen, 47, was convicted of two class A misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old, according to court documents.
Rosen was arrested in July 2017 after the 16-year-old victim’s father saw Rosen jump out of the second-story window of the victim’s home and drive away. The father followed Rosen and gave police his license plate number, court documents stated.
In an interview with police, the boy said he’d met Rosen online, and that shortly after they started talking, Rosen asked to meet in person. Rosen went to the teen’s house, and began kissing and touching the teenager over his clothes, including his genitals. Rosen was in the process of removing the teen’s clothes when the boy’s father arrived home, according to court documents.
After his arrest, Rosen posted — and soon deleted — a statement on Facebook saying he’d been “catfished” by the teen, who Rosen said told him he was 23.
A jury found Rosen guilty Thursday. His attorney, Richard Gale, didn’t immediately respond to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for comment Friday evening.
Rosen was demoted in 2011 after dropping his pants in front of a female coworker.
He is scheduled to be sentenced July 2. The court requested he be held in a county jail outside of Utah County because of his former job as a police officer in the area.
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