Utah man charged for allegedly sexually abusing over a half-dozen young boys

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POCATELLO — A man police say sexually abused at least seven boys faces eight felony charges.

Jason Earnest Stark, 38, of Utah, has been charged with four counts of soliciting a child for sexual abuse, two counts of lewd conduct with a minor and one count apiece of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and allowing a child to witness the sexual abuse of a child, court records show.

Aug. 3, 2023

A man came into the Pocatello Police Department to report having been the victim of sexual assault in 2016 or 2017, when he was 16 or 17 years old, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The victim told officers about incidents that involved a man, later identified as Stark, and other male juvenile victims.

Officers spoke with one of the victims, who said the incident did occur but refused to discuss it further.

During a second conversation with the second victim and his mother, the victim said the incident involved Stark. The victim’s mother told officers that Stark had access to boys during that period as he employed several in his landscaping business.

After speaking with the second victim, officers called the first victim — who initially reported the incident. He confirmed he was sexually assaulted by Stark.

The first victim said Stark grew friendly with the boys, who eventually began sneaking out of their homes at night to meet up with Stark. Eventually, he said, Stark started showing the boys pornography — he believed it was “just to see what we would do.” Then, the victim said, Stark began to request sexual favors, the affidavit says.

Both victims recalled the incidents taking place primarily in an isolated area near the train tracks in town.

Over time, the second victim said, the sexual abuse began to take place at Stark’s home, where he would exchange items like computers, meals and excursions for his performing sexual favors on them. The victim said he never realized what was going on was wrong.

Asked if he knew of any other victims of Stark’s sexual abuse, the second victim provided officers with multiple names.

Aug. 22, 2023

Officers used a police database to confirm Stark’s identity. In doing so, they learned that he was a registered sex offender out of Ogden, Utah.

Officers also learned of another Bannock County accusation, that Stark was accused of soliciting nude photos from a 16-year-old boy in exchange for marijuana gummies in 2020.

The following day, a special agent from the Department of Homeland Security contacted the officers investigating Stark to inform them that the DHS had an open investigation into the 2020 accusations. The DHS had not filed any criminal charges despite serving a search warrant on Stark’s Snapchat account, as he had deleted all messages from the account.

Aug. 24, 2023

Officers ran a complete criminal history on Stark and learned that he was convicted on three counts of second-degree sodomy and sentenced to seven years in prison in Richmond, Kentucky.

Sept. 6, 2023

Officers spoke with a third victim, who said he was sexually abused by Stark when he was a freshman in high school, according to the affidavit.

Like the first two victims, the third victim said Stark told him he was in his early 20s. In truth, Stark was in his late 20s to early 30s during these incidents. Also like the other victim, the third victim said Stark would take him out for meals then to a secluded area near the train tracks in town to watch pornography.

Over time, the victim said, Stark began performing sexual favors on him.

The third victim provided officers with names of other potential victims.

While the other victims could not identify the location near the railroad tracks where Stark took them to watch porn and perform sexual favors, the third victim showed officers a spot near Hoffman Avenue where he said Stark took him.

The third victim said he believed he was sexually abused more than 100 times over the course of two years by Stark.

Sept. 7, 2023

One of the victims — it is unclear if this was one of the first three victims or another — came to the police department where officers listened in on a phone conversation between the victim and Stark.

The two discussed many personal things during their conversation, including the victim’s plans to get married and have children.

On more than one occasion, the victim asked Stark about the sexual acts Stark performed on him but each time, Stark interrupted.

Stark said of the victim claiming he was avoiding discussing what occurred, “I just don’t have a good answer, I guess.”

Following the conversation, officers discussed with the victim the sodomy convictions in Kentucky. The victim said, as far as he knows, sodomy has to do with people performing sex acts with animals. The victim then told officers about a time Stark put him in position to have an animal perform a sex act on the victim.

Sept. 11, 2023

Officers were informed of yet another victim with whom they had not yet spoken.

The new victim came into the Pocatello Police Department, where he provided details similar to those of the previous victims. He said the sexual assaults began when he was a sophomore in high school.

That victim put officers in contact with yet another, who spoke with officers on the phone and echoed many of the same accusations.

Over the following week, officers got in contact with at least one more victim who said many of the same things occurred between him and Stark — beginning when he was in high school in 2017 and 2018.

November 2023

Pocatello Police received a letter from Kentucky State Police containing information pertaining to Stark’s conviction there.

According to that report, Kentucky police received a report from a 10-year-old in 2005 that a “Mormon Missionary” had “messed with” him by “touching his butt, private areas” and that the boy witnessed the missionary perform a sex act on a 6-year-old.

The boy said that the missionary tried to perform a sex act on him but that the boy pushed him away. When he did, the boy said, the missionary offered him $7 to let him perform the sex act.

After reviewing the Kentucky documents, officers continued contacting potential Idaho victims. They spoke with several more, all of whom provided similar details to those provided by previous victims.

More details about the aftermath of Kentucky abuse is detailed by the Deseret News here.

December 2023

Pocatello officers and the DHS special agent examined items extracted from one of the victim’s phones. They found several messages between the victim and Stark — including sexually inappropriate memes and discussions regarding the two spending time together.

January 2024

Officers searching for Stark spoke with a person who informed them Stark had moved to Utah with his wife.

The affidavit does not detail how officers found Stark, but charges were filed on April 15 and an extradition card was signed on April 17. An arrest warrant was served on May 6, and Stark has been booked into Bannock County Jail.

He is being held on a $500,000 bond, with seven no-contact orders barring him from any contact with the known victims.

Though Stark has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If he is found guilty, Stark would face up to life in prison.

He has a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge David Penrod on June 3.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article contained information about a lawsuit against Stark and the LDS Church. The article implied the case was current, when in fact it occurred in 2007. EastIdahoNews.com apologizes for the error, and has removed the information.