SALT LAKE CITY — A board member of the Salt Lake City School District who was arrested Wednesday for allegedly possessing child pornography has now been charged with sexually assaulting a child.
Joél-Léhi Organista, 29, was charged Friday with object rape of a child by the Utah Attorney General's Office — a first-degree felony.
Organista was also officially charged with the multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor that he was initially arrested for, plus two more.
According to court documents, Organista was found in possession of child pornography on a Dropbox account and on multiple electronic devices after a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipLine. He is also accused of using Snapchat to ask minors for nude photos and to perform sexual acts for him.
The newest charge states that he sexually assaulted a child under the age of 14 with a foreign object.
Nine of Organista's 10 counts of sexual exploitation are second-degree felonies.
One is a first-degree felony. In this case, law enforcement says that in one of his communications with minors over Snapchat, Organista told a 12-year-old boy to violate himself with an object.
Police say the suspect admitted to possessing child pornography, but it was not stated whether he did the same for the sexual assault or direct communications with minors.
Since his arrest, Organista has been removed from his position as Vice President of Youth at the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the SLC School District requested his resignation in a formal letter to the school board. He resigned Friday, according to the district.
Organista is being held in police custody without bail.
