Charges dropped against director of residential treatment facility for teenage girls

CEDAR CITY —Charges in a sexual assault case pending in the 5th District Court for Iron County against Daniel Sandberg Taylor, 43, of Cedar City, were dropped by the Iron County Attorney according to a motion to dismiss without prejudice filed on Friday. Taylor was facing six first-degree felonies for alleged sexual offenses against young girls that were residents at the Integrity House, a residential treatment facility for teenage girls, where he was serving as the executive director.

Taylor was charged on June 3 after a 10-day investigation was launched by the Cedar City Police into allegations of sexual offenses committed against some of the female residents at the Integrity House. As a result of the investigation, Taylor was charged with three counts of first-degree felony rape, three counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a class-A misdemeanor for child abuse and a class-B misdemeanor for assault.

The proposed motion to dismiss all charges, signed by Chief Deputy Iron County Attorney Troy A. Little and filed with the court on Friday stated: “Several of the alleged victims in the case are unable and unwilling to participate in the prosecution due to sever psychiatric and emotional issues.”

The motion also stated:

Furthermore, it was discovered in the follow-up investigation that several of the alleged victims and witnesses in the case lied about the underlying charges. Based on the furtherance of justice the Iron County Attorney’s Office is dismissing all charges against Mr. Taylor.

On Tuesday Taylor’s criminal defense attorney Blaine Hofeling released the following statement to St. George News:

Mr. Daniel Taylor is gratified with the dismissal of all charges filed against him by the Iron County Attorney’s Office. Mr. Taylor has at all times maintained and continues to maintain his innocence. Mr. Taylor looks forward to trying to rebuild his life and wishes to express his gratitude to those who have continued to believe in his innocence and have provided invaluable support to him.

Dismissing the case without prejudice leaves open the possibility for the prosecutor to refile the charges in the future. According to Linda Hansen, a clerk for District Court Judge Keith Barnes, the proposed order of dismissal had not been signed by the judge as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

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5 Comments

  • Mean momma April 9, 2014 at 6:12 pm

    Kids in treatment have major issues and has been proven time after time that they will do whatever is necessary to get their way. Oh the youth of today, were do we go from here?

    • shathaka July 8, 2014 at 6:32 am

      …… .for 1who is mean momma was she. Apart of AeA ? I Think not so u really dont matter dont worry girls we know at the end of the day what happened what dont kill u make u strong but i belivie Karma definitely has everybody address every dog will have its day

  • Ashley Maddox May 7, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    @mad momma
    Are you f……* retarded? People in positions of power such as Daniel Taylor are more than capable of ongoing abuse and then covering it up due to people like you saying that it was a situation of “the boy who cries wolf”. You are mistaken is the worst form, and god forbid you ever get put in a nursing home or hospital where they abuse geriatric patients just becUse they have the ability to. Think before you open your mouth dumb…*.
    *Ed. elipses

  • Ashley Maddox May 7, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    My bad, your name is mean momma. Ha your title shows your lack in judgement.

  • katt miller July 7, 2014 at 11:52 am

    Daniel Taylor is a monster. He transported me to the Arizona facility. He dislocated my shoulder in the process. The amount of physical and mental abuse the girls that lived in this “treatment center” will never completely heal. We needed help. Our parents sent us to help us with whatever our issues were. Child abuse is not a joke and the fact that these types of facilities are up and running is disgusting. Rotten food. Treating young girls like animals. No… I retract that. People treat animals better. We needed support. Counseling. Treatment. Daniel Taylor and his untrained staff did not care about our wellbeing. He wanted our parents money. He enjoyed the way he treated us. Our justice system has failed us. Myself and the other girls will forever live our lives in fear.

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