News of the arrest of a Charles David Scoville in Utah broke last week.

Given the severity of the charge, I held off on reporting the story until I had absolute confirmation it was Traffic Monsoon’s Charles Scoville.

Following an unrelated June 18th filing by the Receiver, I can now confirm Charles Scoville, founder of Traffic Monsoon, has been arrested for aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Details of Scoville’s alleged crime have yet to be made public.

Following his arrest, Scoville was transported to a Salt Lake City prison in Utah.

Scoville’s inmate details reveal he was arrested on June 12th with a $100,000 bond set (click to enlarge):

Scoville’s alleged abuse of a minor dates back to 2007 and was booked under 76-5-404.1(4) of the Utah Criminal Code.

(2) An individual commits sexual abuse of a child if, under circumstances not amounting to rape of a child, object rape of a child, sodomy on a child, or an attempt to commit any of these offenses, the actor touches the anus, buttocks, pubic area, or genitalia of any child, the breast of a female child, or otherwise takes indecent liberties with a child, with intent to cause substantial emotional or bodily pain to any individual or with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any individual regardless of the sex of any participant.

An individual commits aggravated sexual abuse of a child when in conjunction with the offense described in Subsection (2) any of the following circumstances have been charged and admitted or found true in the action for the offense:

(a) the offense was committed by the use of a dangerous weapon as defined in Section 76-1-601, or by force, duress, violence, intimidation, coercion, menace, or threat of harm, or was committed during the course of a kidnapping;

(b) the accused caused bodily injury or severe psychological injury to the victim during or as a result of the offense;

(c) the accused was a stranger to the victim or made friends with the victim for the purpose of committing the offense;

(d) the accused used, showed, or displayed pornography or caused the victim to be photographed in a lewd condition during the course of the offense;

(e) the accused, prior to sentencing for this offense, was previously convicted of any sexual offense;

(f) the accused committed the same or similar sexual act upon two or more victims at the same time or during the same course of conduct;

(g) the accused committed, in Utah or elsewhere, more than five separate acts, which if committed in Utah would constitute an offense described in this chapter, and were committed at the same time, or during the same course of conduct, or before or after the instant offense;

(h) the offense was committed by an individual who occupied a position of special trust in relation to the victim;

(i) the accused encouraged, aided, allowed, or benefitted from acts of prostitution or sexual acts by the victim with any other individual, or sexual performance by the victim before any other individual, human trafficking, or human smuggling; or

(j) the accused caused the penetration, however slight, of the genital or anal opening of the child by any part or parts of the human body other than the genitals or mouth.

(5) Aggravated sexual abuse of a child is a first degree felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and which may be for life (or) life without parole.

The news of Scoville’s arrest follows reports he’s been in and out of mental health facilities and hospitals for months.

How Scoville’s arrest and criminal case will affect the SEC’s Traffic Monsoon civil suit is not immediately clear.

As part of our previous coverage, we’ve reported on the Traffic Monsoon Receiver’s investigation of the sale of a flat in the UK in Scoville’s name.

By way of a previously granted preliminary injunction, Scoville is legally prohibited from selling off any assets.

Scoville denies having anything to do with the sale, however his lack of cooperation with the Receiver certainly suggests otherwise.

As previously reported, the Receiver did attempt to take possession of Scoville’s UK flat but when informed the US order was not directly enforceable, decided against spending Receivership assets to obtain a local order.

By law Scoville was prohibited from selling or transferring the property, so financially it was easier to just get him to cooperate with the sale when the time came.

Upon learning of the November 2017 sale of the flat for £280,000 in May, the Receiver held a meeting with Scoville and SEC attorneys.

At the meeting, Scoville denied any involvement in the transfer of the property.

Scoville also stated that he wanted to cooperate with the Receiver in determining who transferred the property.

Prior to his arrest three or so weeks later, that was the last the Receiver heard from Scoville.

On May 16, 2018, the Receiver’s counsel sent an email to Scoville’s counsel asking Scoville to sign a letter authorizing the British company which allegedly acted on Scoville’s behalf in the transfer of the Property to divulge information about the transfer to the Receiver.

Scoville’s counsel did not respond to this email.

On June 5, 2018, the Receiver’s counsel sent a follow up email to Scoville’s counsel requesting an update on the Authorization Letter.

Scoville’s counsel did not respond until June 15, 2018, when he notified the Receiver’s counsel that getting Scoville’s signature on the Authorization Letter would be delayed because Scoville had been arrested and was in the Salt Lake County Jail.

On June 18th Scoville’s attorneys finally provided the Receiver with a signed copy of the sought Authorization Letter.

Perhaps more importantly though, the Receiver’s filing provides confirmation of Scoville’s arrest.

The Receiver’s filing was made in response to a request from Scoville to be relieved from having to file ongoing Status Reports every 30 days.

The fact that Scoville now faces criminal charges in the State Court makes it even more important that he continue to file status reports with this Court to allow the Receiver and the Court to follow his whereabouts and status.

Therefore, the Receiver requests that the Court deny the Motion, and continue to require Scoville to file status reports and to ensure his cooperation with the Receiver.

Pending further details of how Scoville’s flat was sold off and the specifics of his alleged criminal conduct, stay tuned…

 

Update 12th November 2018 – Tara Talks is reporting Charles Scoville has pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child.