BASALT — A 20-year-old Bingham County man has been charged with 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child after investigators say he possessed dozens of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, some of them infants, court records show.

Yiems Oliver Benitez Zaragoza has been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, all felonies, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

Investigators with Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Zaragoza on Aug. 20, according to a news release from the Attorney General's Office. The ICAC Unit received assistance in the case from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the Bingham County Sheriff's Office, the Idaho Falls Police Department and the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office, the release states. The Attorney General's ICAC Unit works with the Idaho ICAC Task Force, a coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, to investigate and prosecute people who use the internet to sexually exploit children, according to the release.

The investigation began in November 2025, when a detective with the unit was assigned to review several CyberTips submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by Google, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The tips, submitted after Google flagged a file uploaded to an account on Sept. 15, 2025, collectively contained 30 files investigators believed to be child sexual abuse material, the affidavit states.

The suspect information in the reports included an email address and two phone numbers, one domestic and one international, according to court records. Administrative subpoenas sent to a local internet provider tied two residential IP addresses linked to the account to homes in both Firth and Basalt, small towns located about 10 miles northeast of Blackfoot, the affidavit states.

A detective reviewed all 30 files and determined each depicted sexual abuse of children, with the victims' apparent ages ranging from infancy to early adolescence, according to the affidavit.

In June, a data return from Google tied to the account included a billing record associated with the name "Oliver Benitez," along with a photo of a man with embedded location data matching the Basalt address, and a video recorded from the front yard of the same residence, the affidavit states.

Investigators identified Zaragoza, whose date of birth matches Google's account information, as a resident there and matched him to other images and videos tied to the account, according to court records. A prior, unrelated traffic stop in Bingham County had also listed the Basalt address as Zaragoza's residence, the affidavit states.

On Aug. 20, investigators stopped a vehicle registered to a relative in Basalt. The relative told detectives Zaragoza had since moved to an apartment complex in Terreton and provided a text thread showing Zaragoza had sent him map coordinates to the new address, according to court records.

The relative said Zaragoza used two phone numbers that matched those in the CyberTips and that the family attended a Basalt-area church, which matched a separate residential IP address tied to the investigation, the affidavit states.

Detectives located a second vehicle registered to Zaragoza at the Terreton complex and began surveillance, according to the affidavit.

When detectives attempted to detain Zaragoza as he left the complex, he resisted and ran before being located inside a unit at the complex, court records show. Officers set up a perimeter, and investigators obtained a search warrant for the residence. Zaragoza and family members inside later exited the home, and he was taken into custody, according to the affidavit.

Zaragoza agreed to be interviewed after being read his Miranda rights and signing a written waiver, the affidavit states. During the interview, he confirmed his phone numbers, church involvement and Gmail account, and said he had received two notices from Google after being flagged for watching videos he described as being of young girls, according to court records. He suggested his identity may have been stolen but could not elaborate when asked, the affidavit states.

Zaragoza later said he watches pornography but claimed everyone depicted is 18 or older, and said he sometimes receives pornographic links through WhatsApp and acknowledged the possibility he had clicked on child pornography, though he repeatedly said he did not know when detectives pressed for details, according to the affidavit.

Zaragoza was booked into the Bingham County Jail following his arrest. Additional charges are possible pending a full examination of devices seized during the investigation, the affidavit states.

Zaragoza appeared before 7th District Magistrate Judge Scott H. Hansen for an arraignment hearing on Aug. 21, where his bond was set at $500,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 1 for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.

If convicted, each of the 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child Zaragoza faces carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.