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PROVO — A former founder of Ancestry.com who is waiting to be sentenced for sexually abusing a teenage girl at a sleepover has been sent back to jail.
Daniel Taggart, 51, was taken into custody following a hearing Tuesday after a judge revoked his bail for violating a protective order issued in the case. He was booked into Utah County Jail where he will remain until sentencing on Jan. 15.
Taggart apparently encountered the teenage victim inadvertently at a store where she works, prosecutor Ryan McBride said. A protective order indicated that, in that situation, Taggart was to leave immediately. However, he remained in the store, causing the girl deep distress, McBride said.
"It has caused her some serious anxiety and even depression," the prosecutor said. "Because of that, the judge found that he was a danger to her psychological safety and her emotional well-being."
Police say Taggart provided alcohol for his teenage daughter and her friend at a sleepover last year, playing games with the girls and offering shot glasses and sex toys as prizes.
After Taggart's daughter had apparently fallen asleep, the teenager told police Taggart turned on a pornographic video and sexually assaulted her, according to charging documents.
When the girl reportedly returned for a sleepover a month later, Taggart again gave her alcohol and sexually assaulted her, the charges state.
Taggart pleaded guilty in October to reduced charges of attempted sexual abuse of a child and three counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse. All four charges are third-degree felonies. Taggart faces potential sentences of zero to five years in prison for each charge, which prosecutors will recommend run consecutively as part of the plea deal.
Taggart was arrested in March and was initially charged with two counts of object rape, a first-degree felony; forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; two counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony; and two counts of supplying alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
Guilty plea from ex-Ancestry.com founder in teen sex abuse case
A Highland man accused of sexual activity with a teenage girl who came to have sleepovers with his daughter has pleaded guilty to reduced charges.McBride noted that Taggart has been out on bail since shortly after his arrest and has had no issues until now.
Under Utah law, a defendant who has pleaded guilty or been convicted is to be taken into custody unless it is proven he or she is not a danger to the physical or psychological well-being of others, McBride said. Taggart's violation of the protective order indicates he does, in fact, pose a threat, the prosecutor argued.
Rather than returning to jail, Taggart's attorney, Dean Zabriskie, asked 4th District Judge Claudia Laycock to instead impose house arrest or use of an ankle monitor, according to court records.
Taggart co-founded Ancestry.com in 1997 but is no longer with the company. He was the CEO of CubbyCode Inc. and Kringles Toys and Gifts at the time charges were filed, according to his profile on LinkedIn. He co-founded LDSAudio.com in September of 2003 and was CEO for a year. In 1990, he co-founded and ran Infobases Inc. for six years.
