The Office of the Utah Attorney General works to protect children online by enforcing laws, supporting prosecutions, and holding individuals and companies accountable for conduct that harms minors. This includes efforts to combat online sexual exploitation, investigate the distribution of child sexual abuse material, and address digital platforms and technologies that have features designed to addict children.
Through coordinated legal action and partnerships with the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection and law enforcement agencies, the office is committed to keeping kids safe.
In addition to enforcement, the Office emphasizes prevention and education. It supports tools and programs that help parents, schools, and communities understand online risks and promote safe digital behavior. By combining legal action, collaboration, and public education, the office works to make the online environment safer for Utah’s children.
During 2025, the Office of the Utah Attorney General prosecuted over twice as many cases involving internet crimes against children as the office did in 2024. This progress is driven by our dedicated Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force prosecutors and investigators, whose efforts keep Utah kids safe.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General, the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, and the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent with Aylo, the company that owns and operates some of the largest and most-visited pornography websites in the world. This decisive action mandates the implementation of a robust program to remove child sexual abuse material and non-consensual material from Aylo’s platforms. Additionally, Aylo will pay a penalty of $5 million to resolve claims it engaged in unconscionable and deceptive business practices.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General secured the conviction of a man for felony child rape. William Piol Makuei was convicted of first-degree felony child rape by a jury in Third District Court. The September trial lasted one day and ended with Makuei’s conviction.
Utah announced a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. that alleges Snap profits from unconscionable design features created to addict children to the app and facilitates illegal drug sales and sextortion. The lawsuit also includes claims related to its AI chatbot, My AI, and comes as states confront the harsh realities of AI technology’s impact on children. Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, and the Utah Department of Commerce’s Executive Director Margaret Busse announced the suit.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force participated in a month-long national initiative called Operation Safe Online Summer. This initiative focused on protecting children from online exploitation. Operation Safe Online Summer led to 43 arrests, 30 cases accepted for prosecution, 2 children rescued from ongoing abuse, 242 search warrants and court orders executed, and 49 community outreach presentations conducted.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force made Utah’s first known arrest involving the use of cryptocurrency to purchase child sexual abuse material. The Office of the Utah Attorney General charged a 39-year-old Utah man with 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor following an investigation led by investigators from our task force.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force announced 15 arrests as a result of a four-day operation between April 14 and April 17. The Office of the Utah Attorney General hosted a statewide undercover investigation called Operation Hive Strike to locate and apprehend individuals who were actively using the internet to sexually exploit children. Over 80 task force agents from 31 different federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation.
In a significant legal victory for the state of Utah, Third District Court Judge Coral Sanchez denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit filed in June 2024. This marks the advancement of Utah’s second lawsuit against TikTok Inc., which alleges that the company has knowingly allowed the sexual exploitation of young people through the TikTok Live feature in exchange for monetary gain.
