Former Cedar City youth home director charged with sex crimes

The former executive director of a Cedar City home for troubled girls has been charged with six felonies alleging he raped or sexually abused three young clients of the facility.

Daniel Sandberg Taylor, 42, was charged this week in 5th District Court with three counts each of rape and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies.

The victims were all staying at Integrity House, a residential treatment center for troubled girls 12 to 17 years old.

According to court documents, Taylor entered the room of a 17-year-old girl and raped her three times during the month of February. Each time, Taylor allegedly placed his hand over the girl's mouth to quiet her. He also told her that he would make it "10 times worse than what just happened" if she told anyone about the encounters, court documents state.

Cedar City police investigators wrote that the girl's allegations were corroborated by physical evidence, as well as statements from an eyewitness and others in the facility.

On May 16, Taylor allegedly sexually abused a 13-year-old girl. While transporting the girl to the youth facility, Taylor twice reached inside the girl's underwear and touched her genitals, according to court documents.

And on Feb. 10, while attending an outdoor event in the Cedar City area with a number of juvenile clients, Taylor ordered a 12-year-old girl into an area behind some bushes and ordered her to remove her pants, according to court documents. When the girl refused, Taylor allegedly said that if she did not cooperate, "it was going to be worse for her," according to court documents.

As the 12-year-old continued to resist, Taylor tried to remove her pants and placed his hand on her genitals beneath her clothing, court documents state.

During the encounter, Taylor became angry and shoved the 12-year-old to the ground, court documents state. The girl, who suffered an injury to her hand, still bears a scar on her left palm, according to court documents. For allegedly causing the hand injury, Taylor was charged with one count of class A misdemeanor child abuse.

He is also charged with one count of class B misdemeanor assault for allegedly shoving an adult female staff member to the floor and twisting her wrist during a disagreement in February, according to court documents.

Police wrote that because of Taylor's position of authority at Integrity House, the girls living there were subject to his direction and discipline. That allegedly put him in a "position of special trust" with the alleged victims, a relationship that prosecutors used to enhance the severity of the charges filed in connection with the 12- and 13-year-old girls.

Taylor, who was arrested May 31, is being held at the Iron County jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.

A bail hearing is set for Tuesday before Judge G. Michael Westfall.

Also charged this week was Jamie Frost, 28, identified as a student/family advocate at Integrity House. Frost was charged with two counts of class B misdemeanor assault. Court documents do not include information about the alleged crimes, except to say that they occurred June 1.

Dawn Bauer, the center's admissions director, said the day after Taylor was arrested: "We are working very closely with detectives and all authorities ... to provide them with any and all information that they need because we want to assure the families that their daughters are safe and being cared for. We are addressing this."

shunt@sltrib.com