SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A former president of a prominent Salt Lake City figure skating club has been arrested on suspicion of trying to set up a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl.
Matthew Gregory Shepard was charged Tuesday with enticing a minor, criminal solicitation and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, shows online Utah court documents. Shepard contacted an undercover FBI agent posing as a teenage girl on social media and dating apps in October and set up a meeting. When he arrived, he was arrested.
Shepard was president of Salt Lake Figure Skating at the time of the alleged activity, according to charging documents.
Salt Lake Figure Skating didn’t immediately return emails from The Associated Press seeking comment. The organization said in a statement to the Deseret News that Shepard stepped down as president on Sept. 1 and from the group’s board in mid-November.
Shepard did not work directly with children in his role, current President Robert Walton-Steadman told the Deseret News. The organization says on its website it is the home club of world figure skating champion Nathan Chen.
Shepard didn’t have an attorney listed in court documents.
The 45-year-old from Murray, Utah, also taught children at his church, according to charging documents. He has a 13-year-old daughter of his own and told detectives after his arrest that he was sexually attracted to young girls.
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