ST. GEORGE — A local man was arrested following an online law enforcement operation targeting users suspected of possessing child sexual abuse material. Police allege the suspect, who had already spent time in federal prison for similar crimes, reportedly attempted to again meet up with an adolescent.
On Wednesday, 47-year-old Matthew Christian Radcliffe, of St. George, was arrested during a traffic stop on Sunset Boulevard following an investigation into information obtained by a Washington County task force during an undercover online focus operation conducted last week, according to charging documents filed with the court.
During the operation, an officer reportedly found a message on social media requesting information on how to obtain child sexual abuse material.
In the message thread, the user initially asked about various scams promoting certain cloud-sharing programs typically used in to store and distribute child abuse material. Then the suspect asked to move to a chat on another application, which is when agents were able to identify the user as Radcliffe, as alleged in the report.
The suspect sent a message stating he had purchased images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, but the people he purchased the material from refused to give him access to the link.
He was later granted access and sent the link that contained 25 files to the undercover officer, 19 of which contained material depicting underaged minors engaged in sexual activity.
Days later, the suspect sent seven videos depicting the abuse of children through the application. As communications continued, the suspect went over various acts he had allegedly been engaged in, and then asked about paying an 11-year-old boy for sexual activity, writing he would show the child “porn” and then described in detail acts he would like to perform with the child.
Arrangements were made to meet in person in St. George, and the suspect asked the police decoy to bring the 11-year-old to the meeting spot.
After changing locations, the suspect arranged to meet outside of a store. Once there, Radcliffe told the decoy they would meet inside of the store to get something to drink. The decoy entered the store but was unable to locate the suspect.
The agent left the store and then noticed a man sitting in a silver passenger car who was staring at the agent “for an unusually long amount of time,” and then remained in the parking lot.
The suspect exited and headed south on Bluff Street, then made a series of what the agent suspected were avoidance maneuvers before Radcliffe was stopped on West Sunset Boulevard.
At first, the suspect denied any involvement in the messaging. When asked if he had ever been questioned about previous crimes, the suspect admitted that he was a registered sex offender.
During the traffic stop, a K-9 was deployed to conduct a sniff around the vehicle. When the animal alerted to the possible presence of contraband, the car was searched and officers recovered a bottle of lubricant and other items that led detectives to suspect that Radcliffe had frequently gone to areas and establishments where children were living.
They also learned the suspect had served time in federal prison in California after being convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material. The case was filed in U.S. District Court in St. George in March of 2009 and Radcliffe was indicted on one count of possession of child pornography.
The indictment also states the defendant possessed and transferred files containing child abuse materials reportedly stored on three computers and a thumb drive.
He was sentenced to serve 68 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years supervised release starting in 2015. He was released from prison — supervision that should have continued until June 12, 2025 — but was terminated more than two and one-half years early, after a motion to terminate supervision was submitted by his parole officer stating the parolee had completed all sex offender treatment.
The order was signed by a federal judge on Nov. 21, 2022, according to federal court records.
During the incident Wednesday night, officers obtained a warrant to seize the suspect’s cell phone. During the initial search, officers found the messaging applications used in the communications under the same user name, but the message threads had been deleted.
Once officers determined that Radcliffe was the online user operating both social media applications, including the app used to access the abuse images and videos of children and making arrangements to meet an 11-year-old child, he was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing 27 second-degree felony charges, including 26 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of enticing a minor for sexual activity.
Agents also requested that Radcliffe remain in custody without bail, citing the suspect’s criminal history in the federal case as indicators the suspect posed an immediate danger to the community.
The request was approved and Radcliffe remains in jail on a no-bail hold. The case has been turned over to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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