A public denfender said Badiu, who is from Romania, did not find the photos sexual. They were of his young daughter and sent to family members back in Romania. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the charges with prejudice.
Read more here. The rest of the original report is below.
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Bogdan Badiu, 58, was charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Court documents stated Park City Police officers found hundreds of explicit photos on his phone of at least one child.
Badiu’s phone was seized last month in connection with another alleged sex crime.
A Kansas woman who met Badiu on a dating site reported he sexually assaulted her at his Deer Valley condominium in June. Park City police searched his condo and seized his phone as evidence. Officers say that’s when they found the pornographic materials involving children.
Badiu was arrested when he went to pick up his phone at the police department July 23. He’s being held in the Summit County jail without bond pending a trial.
Neighbors told KPCW there was a sizable police presence outside Badiu’s home the day of his arrest.
Park City officers have briefed the Utah Attorney General Internet Crimes Against Children task force on the case.
Both agencies served another search warrant on Badiu’s condo July 23, where they say he had backed up the pornographic images onto multiple computers.
Badiu had been a “long-time” tennis instructor for the Solamere homeowners association in Deer Valley. The community’s website states he had offered tennis lessons as recently as this summer.
All 10 of Badiu’s child porn charges are second-degree felonies. If convicted, each carries a prison sentence of one to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
