Arizona man charged with kidnapping, sexually exploiting boy in Amber Alert case

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — A man accused of taking a 13-year-old Layton boy to Nebraska, prompting an Amber Alert, is facing state and federal charges.

Various court records identify him as both Aaron Michael Zeman and Tadashi Kura Kojima, 26. Initial reports identified him as Zeman and a complaint filed in district court indicates that Zeman legally changed his name at some point to Tadashi Kojima.

Zeman was charged Tuesday in 2nd District Court with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; enticing a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies; and eight counts of dealing harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony.

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He was charged last week in federal court with kidnapping and transporting a minor with the intent for criminal sexual activity.

Police say the 13-year-old was communicating with Zeman on the internet and left his home late the night of Dec. 26, 2022, to meet with him. After an Amber Alert was issued, Zeman and the boy were located in a car at a gas station in Grand Island, Nebraska, about 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 28.

One of the teen’s parents reported to Layton police on Nov. 29 that their son had been communicating with an adult male from Arizona using the name “Hunter Fox.” The conversations had become sexual, and included the exchange of sexually explicit photos and videos, according to charging documents.

The boy told police he communicated with “Hunter Fox” over various apps, including Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Roblox and through FaceTime and text messages, according to state and federal charges. When the boy went missing, investigators said they discovered he’d been communicating with Zeman via Twitter through an Oculus virtual reality headset. His parents were unaware that the device was capable of this, the court documents note.

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Zeman began contacting the boy in October and at some point Zeman asked the child to date him, the charges allege. The boy provided him with his name, birthday and address and arranged to meet him in person, police say.

In Nebraska, police say they searched Zeman’s vehicle and found passports for both of them, along with written plans for changing both of their names and obtaining new birth certificates, according to the charging documents.

“In communications with (the boy), defendant had expressed a willingness to go to jail to have a relationship with” him, the charges say.