ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — Two 19-year-old men have been arrested after allegedly distributing pornographic cards around the Utah Tech University campus on Tuesday, April 25, according to probable cause statements.
The Utah Tech University Police were contacted by a librarian at the Holland Commons Building who reportedly handed them “a stack of pornographic cards” that she and other employees had gathered from around the building. Police described the cards as those typically handed out “on the Las Vegas strip” containing explicit images.
Witnesses identified two males who had allegedly “distributed the images all over the common areas and restrooms of the building.”
Police report finding Paxten Prentice, 19, in his apartment, who reportedly said he and his friend Jamie Anderson, 19, distributed the images “as a joke.” They were both arrested on one charge of distribution of an intimate image, a misdemeanor offense.
Prentice was booked in the Washington County jail on Tuesday, and Anderson was booked the next day.
While possessing pornography is not a crime unless it depicts a minor, distributing pornography or possessing it with intent to distribute is a crime in Utah. All 50 states have some form of obscenity law, however, they vary depending on state law.
