37-year-old man accused of sexually exploiting 17-year-old girl in Cedar City hotel

CEDAR CITY – A 37-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested on multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after he allegedly admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old girl at a Cedar City hotel in early May.

Vernon Ross was booked into the Iron County Detention Center shortly after midnight Saturday. He is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of a minor (a second-degree felony), sexual abuse of a 16- or 17-year-old (a third-degree felony) and two misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol and tobacco products to minors.

According to the probable cause statement filed in support of his arrest, Ross was the alleged recipient of several phone calls from the 17-year-old girl who had been reported as a runaway.

“The juvenile had made several phone calls to Vernon Ross (a 37-year-old man) prior to her escape,” the investigating Cedar City police officer wrote in the affidavit. “We had reason to believe she was with him. Vernon contacted me several days after she was found and informed me that he had been with her that night.”

Read the full article at St. George News.