26-year-old Ammon man charged with felony enticing a child over the internet

IDAHO FALLS — A 26-year-old Ammon man has been arrested and charged after allegedly talking to children online and trying to entice them to commit sexual acts.

Anthony Calderon was arrested last week by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. He is charged with felony enticing a child over the internet.

Court documents

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Idaho Falls Police Department in January, a detective was assigned a cyber tip about a suspicious conversation that occurred online.

A user with the moniker of “Bryan” began an online chat in December 2022 on MeetMe, a social networking service. The user was apparently linked to a CableOne/Sparklight account and an email account associated with the name “Bryce,” according to court documents.

In the chat, “Bryan” initiated a conversation with a woman about getting together for a romantic occasion. They spoke briefly about both having children, and “Bryan” forwarded the woman a picture of his apparent 7-year-old child.

He then proceeded to ask if she was interested in sexual contact with him and the child. The woman ended the conversation after hearing this.

A detective examined the picture that was sent and was able to determine it was a picture available on the internet that did not appear to be associated with anyone in or near Idaho Falls.

The detective investigated the IP address of the username and found that it was registered to a residence in Idaho Falls, used as an assisted living facility. There are both residents and employees there, documents said.

Lewiston Police Department

In March, an officer with the Lewiston Police Department took a report from a 13-year-old girl who had a conversation on Snapchat with an account that had a name attached to it as “Bryce.”

In the conversation, “Bryce” asked the 13-year-old girl to perform sexual acts on a toddler.

Snapchat sent the contents of the account to the detective who found the user had “several messages to children in which he solicited pictures of children sexually abusing infants and toddlers,” documents said. Some of those conversations happened between February and March.

The Snapchat IP address was found registered to the same assisted living facility in Idaho Falls.

Court documents detail other instances that are similar. A person named “Maddie” had an IP address registered to the same place in Idaho Falls. “Maddie” asked an individual online if they would be willing to perform sexually explicit acts on a 6-year-old.

Police Department in Massachusetts

In October, the Idaho Falls Police detective was contacted by the Attleboro Police Department in Massachusetts. A detective from Attleboro sent over case files concerning a Snapchat conversation with someone named “Alex.”

The conversation is between “Alex” and a 10-year-old girl. “Alex” asks her for inappropriate pictures of herself and asks if she can meet him in a park to commit sexual acts on him.

Documents say the detective in Massachusetts found that “Alex” was attached to an email for “Maddie” that led back to the residence in Idaho Falls.

The detective in Idaho Falls continued to investigate and found that the residents living at the assisted living facility have workers assigned to them 24 hours a day and there are several employees that have worked there since December 2022.

The detective found an IP address registered to Calderon at the Idaho Falls residence that appeared to be connected to the different email accounts. According to documents, the detective found Calderon was working at the residence during the incidents and matched it to the cyber tips.

Anthony Calderon

Officers found Calderon was living in Ammon. A search warrant was granted on Nov. 29 for Calderon’s residence and electronic devices.

Officers detained Calderon and interviewed him. Calderon said he worked at the Idaho Falls residence for about two years. He said that while working there, he will use his iPhone 13 Pro Max, MacBook Pro, and an old Samsung cell phone. He said he used the Samsung to play Pokemon Go, documents said.

Calderon told police he lived at his Ammon residence for several years. Calderon gave all the email addresses he could remember and all the devices that he thought were in the house, documents said. He said he had been using CableOne/Sparklight for about two years.

He also said the old Samsung cell phone was somewhere in the house, but he wasn’t sure where. An officer asked Calderon about the account using the name “Bryan,” and Calderon then asked to have his attorney before he answered any more questions, documents said.

During the search at Calderon’s residence, a Samsung cellphone was in a dresser in the master bedroom closet. It was connected to managing two different Gmail accounts used for “Bryce” and “Maddie,” documents said.

What’s next

Calderon was booked into the Bonneville County Jail and was given a $100,000 bond. He will be sent to pretrial services after posting bond.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County courthouse.

The felony charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit at (208) 947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.

Though Calderon has been charged with this crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.