Eladio Fenando Matute-Sevilla, a 25-year-old Silverthorne man, remains held in custody as of Nov. 2 on a $300,000 bond after facing a third set of felony charges in just over a month. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office arrested Matute-Sevilla while he was already in custody.
Third Arrest While in Custody Highlights Escalating Charges
Jail records show Matute-Sevilla remains in custody as of Nov. 2, following a series of bond decisions by Summit County Court Judge Robert Gregory. After Matute-Sevilla’s second and third arrests, Judge Gregory set bonds of $300,000 cash or surety.
The progression of arrests began on Sept. 23, when deputies took Matute-Sevilla into custody for the first time. Records show he subsequently posted a $100,000 surety bond on Oct. 16, leading to additional arrests. All of the allegations against Matute-Sevilla stem from incidents that reportedly occurred prior to his initial arrest in September.
Timeline of Arrests and Allegations Across Summit and Eagle Counties
The initial Sept. 23 arrest involved two Class 3 felony counts of sexual assault on a child by force, stemming from a Sept. 14 incident near Tiger Road in unincorporated Breckenridge, according to court affidavits. Investigators identified Matute-Sevilla as a suspect after deputies looked into a reported sexual assault and secured a search warrant for his Snapchat account. While default settings on the platform automatically delete messages, data provided by Snapchat in response to the warrant included saved messages that directed investigators toward two additional minors.
Interviews detailed in the affidavits revealed that Matute-Sevilla used Snapchat to contact minors, claimed to be 19 or 20 years old, asked for explicit photographs, and picked them up in his vehicle. All three minors stated that Matute-Sevilla used physical force to have sex with them inside his vehicle.
A second arrest followed on Oct. 20, bringing three Class 3 felony counts of sexual assault by force involving a second individual. Affidavits state those assaults occurred on Sept. 11, Sept. 18, and Sept. 21, near Breckenridge and the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mike Schilling previously stated that the individual was a minor, though charges of sexual assault on a child did not apply due to close-in-age exemptions in state statute.
The third arrest on Oct. 27 added two Class 3 felony counts of sexual assault by force and eight felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Investigators determined that two of the alleged sexual assaults related to this third arrest occurred in Eagle County. Deputies from the Summit and Eagle counties’ sheriff’s offices agreed that the Summit County Sheriff’s Office would remain the lead investigative agency. Affidavits for this arrest state that Matute-Sevilla applied force against a third individual—who was a minor not subject to child sexual assault charges due to close-in-age exemptions—on Aug. 22 and in early September. Furthermore, records supplied by Snapchat indicated that Matute-Sevilla received seven photos and one video identified as child sexual abuse material between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, resulting in the exploitation charges.
Upcoming Court Appearance Scheduled for December
Attorneys from the public defenders office in Dillon have not responded to a request for comment. Matute-Sevilla is scheduled to appear in Judge Gregory’s courtroom on Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m. for a preliminary demand hearing.
