School employee arrested, facing multiple charges for possessing child sex abuse material

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake school employee is facing multiple charges after police say they found child sex abuse material on his phone.

The man has been identified as Erik Phillip Roan. He was working as the associate director of development at the Guadalupe Center.

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The investigation into Roan started in 2024 when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received a tip that he had child sex abuse material on one of his social media accounts and was distributing it to others.

The affidavit of probable cause said Roan often worked with and had access to small children.

Utah’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force took over, leading to his arrest. Roan was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail this week.

Since his arrest, the school sent a statement to KSL confirming that Roan was placed on immediate administrative leave.

This is the third case of the year involving a school employee being arrested for possessing child sex abuse material. There was a junior high art teacher arrested in Utah County in early January, and a Davis County School District employee arrested in late January.

Child abuse resources and victim recovery: 

• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children provides support to children who are victims of child sexual exploitation through emotional peer support for families, content removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and help getting connected to therapists and attorneys. The NCMEC also provides a CyberTipline where CSAM can be reported. Visit https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/csam-resources for more information. 
• The Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force hosts a hub of resources for parents and offers local help to cases involving child sexual exploitation. 
• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) provides a guide of safety measures to take in order to prevent children from being targeted in CSAM cases. 
• Thorn nonprofit organization creates products and programs that combat child sexual abuse at scale. It provides resources for families to help them identify the possible ways children can be exploited online, giving them proper terminology and statistics to keep them educated. For more information, visit https://www.thorn.org/research/child-sexual-abuse-material-csam/ 
• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online: udvc.org. The statewide child abuse and neglect hotline is 1-855-323-DCFS (3237).

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