Retired A.F. major charged again in sex case

Charges recently dropped by federal prosecutors because of a retired Air Force major's health have been refiled.

But this time it's the Utah Attorney General's Office prosecuting the man because they believe his health concerns have not been supported by evidence.

Retired Maj. Reinaldo L. Canton, 45, accused of attempting to meet a person he thought was a 15-year-old girl for a sexual encounter, was charged in 3rd District Court recently with three counts of enticement of a minor, a class A misdemeanor, after initially being arrested in April 2007.

Canton, a resident of New Mexico, was indicted for the same incident in U.S. District Court in 2007, but the federal case was dismissed without prejudice in May after the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to drop the case because of Canton's deteriorating health.

Court documents filed in that case said Canton had been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition, and his attorney argued that the stress brought on by a trial would put his life at risk.

As Canton was preparing to fly to Utah for a court hearing, he was rushed to a hospital emergency room, where he was diagnosed with an "acute aortic dissection" — a tear in the inner layer of the aorta, court documents said.

Although the case was originally dismissed by federal prosecutors, the Utah Attorney General's Office feels that there are sufficient grounds to proceed with the case on the state level.

"If the defendant conceives that his health is an issue, he is free to raise it and attempt to support it with evidence," said assistant attorney general Paul Amann. "It remains to be seen what facts develop in a court of competent jurisdiction. In the federal context, the defendant's unilateral assertions with respect to his health were not contested. There has been no independent analysis of his health."

The charges filed detail an arranged sexual encounter between Canton and a person who, authorities say, he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had met on the Internet. The "girl" he had expected to meet actually was an undercover agent.

Canton was arrested on April 11, 2007, after FBI agents set up surveillance at a Layton mall, the designated meeting site for the encounter. Agents observed Canton and found that he matched photographs sent to the undercover agents during earlier chats, the charges said.

E-mail: ethomas@desnews.com