A Colorado man wanted on 78 felony child exploitation charges was arrested Tuesday while working at a Saratoga sawmill, where authorities say he had been living and working for about five weeks before investigators tracked him to Carbon County.
Joshua Frasier, born in 1982, was taken into custody without incident after Saratoga Police Chief John Moore received a call from a Montrose County, Colorado, investigator around 12:30 p.m.
The investigator told Moore authorities received information that Frasier was working at Saratoga Forest Management, a sawmill on the south side of town.
Moore confirmed the felony warrant, obtained Frasier's driver's license photograph and asked a Carbon County Sheriff's Office deputy to assist with the arrest.
About 50 minutes later, the officers arrived at the mill and arrested Frasier while he was on the job.
"He was cooperative through the arrest," Moore told Cowboy State Daily.
Frasier was transported to the Carbon County Detention Center, where he was booked on the Colorado warrant.
Living At Campground
A warrant for Frasier's arrest was issued July 10 in Montrose County.
During the arrest, Frasier told officers he had been in the Saratoga area for about five weeks and had been staying at the Saratoga Lake Campground, Moore said.
Frasier also told officers they had previously gone to his parents' home in Montrose looking for him. According to Moore, Frasier said he believed that visit was related to a family-services matter and did not appear to know a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
According to court records, Frasier is charged with 50 counts of procurement of a child for sexual exploitation and 28 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Colorado law defines procurement of a child for sexual exploitation as "causing, inducing, enticing or permitting a child to engage in sexually exploitative conduct for the production of sexually exploitative material."
The charging documents filed in Wyoming do not describe the allegations supporting the case.
Waived Extradition
Frasier appeared Wednesday in Carbon County Circuit Court, where he waived his extradition hearing.
By waiving extradition, Frasier agreed to return to Colorado without contesting the transfer in Wyoming court.
Colorado authorities now have 10 days to take custody of him and transport him back to Montrose County to face the charges.
Cowboy State Daily sought the arrest affidavit and other investigative records to learn more about the allegations in the Colorado case.
The Montrose County courthouse said the affidavit could only be obtained in person.
Ed Thompson, records supervisor for the Montrose County Sheriff's Office, declined to release investigative records, telling Cowboy State Daily the agency does not release documents that "may hinder a case getting prosecuted."
As a result, the allegations underlying the 78 felony charges were not immediately available Friday.
A comment from the Montrose County District Attorney's Office was not returned.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
