'Nudist' foster father charged with sex abuse of a child

'Nudist' foster father charged with sex abuse of a child

(Utah County Sheriff's Office)


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SARATOGA SPRINGS — A man who told police he supports a nudist lifestyle in his house has been charged with sexually abusing his teenage foster daughter.

Zachary Chance Hoskins, 44, of Saratoga Springs, was charged Aug. 27 in 4th District Court with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.

Police say the Division of Child and Family Services was first notified of possible abuse by Hoskins on Aug. 12. He allegedly "cuddled" his 13-year-old foster daughter multiple times, inappropriately touched her and made suggestive comments, according to charging documents.

When questioned by police, Hoskins said he would tell the girl "how good she looked to help with her confidence in her body," the charges state.

Police were also made aware of surveillance video from a youth counseling facility in Provo that was described as "not normal and awkward." Investigators watched the video and observed Hoskins inappropriately touch the girl and kiss her multiple times, the charges state.

A search warrant affidavit further noted: "While watching video of multiple visits … Zachary would hug and hold the victim on his belly. Zachary would then kiss the victim multiple times on the lips."

Hoskins told officers "he felt it was important to show affection to his children" and further disclosed that "his family is similar to a 'nudist' family but inside of the home," court records state.

"Zachary admitted to rarely wearing clothes inside of the home, and did not worry about who saw who without clothing on," the warrant states.

Hoskins' next court hearing is scheduled for Thursday. The foster daughter was removed from the home and has since been placed with another family in a different county, according to Saratoga Springs police.

DCFS would not confirm Tuesday whether Hoskins is a state-appointed foster parent, as police identified him in court records, saying that is private information.

Foster parents go through hours of training and a criminal background checks before a license is granted. According to the Utah Foster Care website, all prospective foster parents are required to participate in 32 hours of standardized training before becoming a licensed foster parent, with an additional 16 hours of training each year to have their license renewed.

Outside of traffic tickets, court records show Hoskins has no prior criminal history in Utah.

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

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