Nurse practitioner arrested, accused of enticing a minor

A mental health nurse practitioner was arrested Monday as part of an undercover sting and accused of trying to meet up with an 8-year-old boy. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News LEHI, Utah (KSL.com) — A South Jordan man and mental health nurse practitioner was arrested Monday for investigation of enticing a minor. A Utah County sheriff’s deputy was working undercover online, posing as an adult male with two young children, targeting individuals with a sexual interest in children through a social media app, according to a police booking affidavit. The deputy was eventually contacted by an individual with the username “Ginger” who was later identified as Joel Thomas Covington, 46, the affidavit alleges, who “made references to my young children he was sexually interested (in), specifically an 8-year-old boy.” “Joel made plans with me to meet me and the child and engage in sexual activity. Joel made reference to his ‘greatest fantasy’ being that he be sexually active with a young boy and asked that I travel to his home so that he could meet the boy. He made references to wanting to play spin the bottle or strip poker with the child,” the affidavit alleges. The deputy said Covington’s employment “was identified as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in Lehi,” according to the affidavit. “Because of his position of trust, I made the determination to not wait for the meeting that Joel wanted to arrange and for the safety of others, went to his place of employment, where he was arrested in the parking lot.” Covington said “he was not going to go through with having sexual contact with the child,” and said “he had these taboo conversations in order to fulfill sexual desires,” according to the arrest report. Covington was booked into Utah County Jail for investigation of enticing a minor. The affidavit requests that he be held without bail. Alliance Behavioral Psychiatry lists Joel Covington as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, but the business declined to comment.The post Nurse practitioner arrested, accused of enticing a minor appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com