Chris Lemmon, a St. George Police Detective, became a local hero after he won the FBI’s 2025 Success Case of the Year award. The bureau honoured him for his outstanding work in a case that will be used as an example in other crime departments across the country.
The St. George Police Department took to Instagram, sharing a photo of Detective Chris Lemmon and highlighting his work. The post mentioned that the brave detective was working on a local child s– abuse case in Utah and Texas to catch a criminal. In December 2025, the FBI presented him with the prestigious award at their annual conference.
The post mentioned that the award is presented to a recipient across hundreds of case submissions across the country. But what made Chris Lemmon’s work stand out was his outstanding record in the N-DEx database, which he used to bring “thoroughness and innovation” to the case.
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The post added, “This award is a demonstration of Det. Lemmon’s extraordinary work in relation to solving child s– abuse cases in our community.” During an interview (via ABC4), Detective Chris Lemmon shared an insight into how he solved the case with ease. He stated about using the national data exchange system, where police reports from different levels of agencies can be entered into the system.
This enabled him to potentially see things from other departments nationwide. The report mentioned that he used the very same system for the sexual abuse investigation case that involved a minor girl in St. George. He added,
“When I ran that search in this case, I learned about another pending criminal case in the state of Texas for the same suspect that I was investigating.”
Upon entering the data, he identified his prime suspect, Nicholas Hughes, who also had a pending case out of Texas. The detective managed to get an arrest warrant, and with the assistance of the U.S. Marshall’s Office, they located the predator. Lemmon explained that they successfully located and put Hughes behind bars within a couple of weeks.
The local police department praised the detective, stating that it was one of the many cases he handles on a regular basis. But what makes his actions more heroic is how, at times, Lemmon handles between 10 and 20 cases at a time, the majority of them being about s– abuse allegations.
Tiffany Mitchell, the Public Information Officer with SGPD, praised his outstanding skills, and the FBI’s Success Case of the Year award highlighted them. Before the interview concluded, Lemmon said that these cases can become complex and time-consuming, making it difficult for the families of the victims.
However, he emphasized that the victim’s families should not give up hope and stay strong. “We’re going to do everything we can to be as thorough as possible to make sure that justice and whatever form that is. That justice is what happens,” He concluded.
