SPRINGVILLE — The allegations against a Springville man who police say was a youth leader at his church are growing.
Kevin G. Sykes, 54, was charged last week in 4th District Court with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, after police say child pornography was found on his phone by his boss.
Now Sykes is being held in the Utah County Jail for investigation of forcible sodomy, human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor, obstructing justice and child abuse. He is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy over the course of three to four years and paying him thousands of dollars.
Sykes sexually abused a teen boy in 2020 and then paid him $500, according to a police booking affidavit, which also alleges that the abuse continued for years in multiple jurisdictions.
"Kevin would give (the boy) money and tell (him) he could not say anything because he was paying him," the affidavit states. "(The boy) estimated that over three to four years Kevin has given him approximately $15,000 to not say anything about the sexual abuse."
In addition, the boy told police that Sykes purchased three cellphones for him, paid for his phone plan and provided him with nicotine products. Police say Sykes claimed to be "mentoring" the child at the time, which put Sykes in a position of trust over the boy.
When Utah County sheriff's deputies went to a home in Santaquin on Monday where Sykes was staying to arrest him on the sex abuse allegations, he allegedly refused to come out of his house.
"Kevin braced himself in the doorway by placing his hands above his head on the door jam," according to the affidavit. When a relative tried to pull Sykes back into the house, the deputies ended up getting into a "physical altercation" with him.
"It should be noted that since Kevin's release after bonding out on his previous case and this arrest, Kevin has been seen in public by a law enforcement officer with an unknown 14- to 15-year-old male. I have also been contacted by two other males that reported being victimized by Kevin almost 30 years ago," police wrote in the arrest report.
After his initial arrest, the sheriff's office said Sykes "has a position in his church where he works with young men and boys in the same age range as those depicted in the pictures found on his phone."
Sykes was scheduled to make an appearance in court Tuesday afternoon. Police have requested that he be held in jail without bail.
