The Santa Clara Pedophile, Payden Davis, a 30-year-old twice-convicted sex offender from Santa Clara, Utah, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release for his intention to meet an 11-year-old kid for sexual assault following communication on a social networking site.
Payden Davis, a registered sex offender, breached his federal supervised release stemming from a previous conviction for possession of child pornography in 2018. The punishment, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen, follows Davis’s guilty plea on February 6, 2025.
Court documents and statements from Payden Davis’s change of plea and sentencing hearings indicate that between November 6, 2023, and November 7, 2023, Payden Davis utilised a portable gaming console to engage in communication over social media with an undercover agent impersonating the father of an 11-year-old kid. Payden Davis consistently affirmed to the undercover agent his desire to sexually exploit the 11-year-old youngster, remarking, “I think it would be fun, if he is into it,” along with other sexually graphic conversations. Payden Davis and the covert operative concurred to convene at a certain site. Simultaneously, the undercover agent uncovered that Payden Davis was a registered sex offender, having been convicted of possessing child pornography in 2018, and was presently under federal supervised release. On November 7, 2025, Payden Davis arrived at the designated spot and was apprehended without incident. At the moment of his apprehension, Davis’s social media account was geolocated to the site of the arrest. Payden Davis possessed a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 mobile, an AYANEO handheld game computer, and more evidence indicating his desire to sexually abuse an 11-year-old youngster.
Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, St. George Resident Agency.
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Burton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.