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CEDAR CITY — A man who once owned and operated a home for troubled girls is now facing felony charges for the alleged sexual abuse of three girls at the home.
Daniel Sandberg Taylor, 42, has been charged with three counts of rape and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with child abuse, a class A misdemeanor, and assault, a class B misdemeanor, in connection with incidents involving clients and employees at Integrity House in Cedar City. The home serves as a treatment center for troubled girls between the ages of 12 and 17 who are experiencing emotional and behavioral issues.
Taylor raped a 17-year-old resident of the facility three times between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28 of this year, according to a police affidavit filed in 5th District Court. In each instance, the man is accused of first placing his hand over the girl's mouth and, after the assault, telling her "that if she were to tell anyone he would make it 10 times worse than what just happened to her."
"The man is accused of first placing his hand over the girl's mouth and, after the assault, telling her 'that if she were to tell anyone he would make it 10 times worse than what just happened to her.' "
These allegations were supported by physical evidence as well as testimony from an eyewitness and others in the facility, the affidavit states.
On Feb. 10, Taylor was at an event with several underage clients when he allegedly ordered one 12-year-old girl to go to an area hidden by bushes. Once there, Taylor told the girl to remove her pants, court documents state. The girl refused, prompting Taylor to remove his pants and threaten her that if she did not cooperate "it was going to be worse."
The girl continued to resist, but police say Taylor still tried to strip her and touched her inappropriately in the process.
During the course of this incident, Taylor is also accused of pushing the girl to the ground and causing an injury to her hand. This injury is the basis for the child abuse charge.
The final incident allegedly occurred on May 16, when Taylor twice touched the genitals of a 13-year-old girl while transporting her, the court document states.
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Police have arrested two employees of a troubled youth treatment center after allegations of sexual assault at the facility were lodged May 21.The assault charge stems from a disagreement Taylor had with a female staff member in which he is accused of shoving the woman to the floor and twisting her wrist.
Dawn Bauer, admissions director at the home, said Taylor was terminated after his arrest. She said he had been working on the administration side of the program for at least a year and that his office was not in the residential facility, though he still came to the school.
"We are fully cooperating with detectives and other agencies as they continue this investigation," she said.
She said there has also been an investigation into the company's license by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing since Taylor's arrest and that the business has been approved to stay open.
"We're not closing down," she said. "We're operational and we're all coming together and … trying to get back into a routine after dealing with the shock of the allegations and charges."
Court records show that Taylor had an initial appearance in court Tuesday, where he was ordered to remain in jail on $100,000 cash-only bail. Taylor requested a hearing on the evidence against him, which was set for June 12.
