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Myton's new police chief has been charged with stalking three women.

Thomas Wade Butterfield was charged Tuesday in Duchesne County with three counts of stalking, one count of unlawful detention and one count of criminal trespass, all misdemeanors.

Butterfield, 44, this year became the first chief of Myton's newly formed police department.

"People are innocent until proven guilty," said Myton Mayor Kathleen Cooper. "At this point, we stand behind our chief, and we'll defend him until we find out otherwise."

Charges did not detail what Butterfield is accused of except to say the alleged offenses occurred between June and September; three women are identified as victims. Cooper also would not discuss details of the allegations.

Cooper said the City Council has plans to meet with an attorney to determine how the charges will affect Butterfield's office in the city and the operations of the nascent police department. The only other employee is an on-call officer hired as a substitute for Butterfield, Cooper said.

"We scraped together every cent we could to get a department together," Cooper said, calling the allegations against Butterfield "mind-numbing."

The Salt Lake Tribune