Sex Offender's Shadow Stays Over Utah Youth Program That Likely Lied To Licensors

Staffer Who Became Sex Offender Was Gone, Utah Autism Facility Told Licensors, But Documents and Sources Say Otherwise.

Conner Braze as pictured in the Utah sex offender database

This report discusses child sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is unsure whether to file an abuse report or just need support, contact the National Children's Alliance at www.nca-online.org or 1-800-239-9950.

A few months after Conner Braze, in his own words, “did attempt to engage in a sexual act with a child under 14 involving [Braze’s] genitals and the victim’s mouth,” he applied for a job supervising autistic children at Daniels Academy in Heber City, Utah. To work there, he would need to pass a background check, or so one might have thought. (Braze is not available for comment. An email to his attorney of record went unreturned.)

Braze was not then facing sex charges, but he had recently been arrested. “Detectives located a large amount of Butane Hash Oil (BHO), Cocaine, LSD Acid, Psilocybe Mushrooms, Marijuana and Paraphernalia” in his home, according to local media. He had a guilty plea in abeyance and had been previously charged as a juvenile with underage driving, possession and DUI. He was himself going to an outpatient treatment center, court records indicate.

But Utah law allowed Daniels Academy to hire Braze pending the outcome of his background check, provided that it kept him “directly supervised with uninterrupted visual and auditory surveillance, by an individual who has a current cleared background check,” according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

Nevertheless, Braze “drove kids around without other staff,” said one former Daniels Academy client. “He was allowed to go on trips with kids without other staff present.”

“He was often unsupervised,” said another former client.

And supervision or lack thereof is not the sole issue.

Utah told MartyG Reports that the state “received an application to complete the background check associated with Daniels Academy for Mr. Braze on 09/11/2019 and completed the background check process on 09/30/2019.”

The approach, from one angle, to one of the Daniels Academy buildings in Heber City, Utah. (© 2023 Nora Ashleigh Barrie)

Though, the state “cannot confirm or deny anything reviewed on a background check,” the results may likely be inferred from Braze’s court records. Unsurprisingly, Utah told MartyG Reports, “Daniels Academy later notified [the Office of Background Processing] that Mr. Braze was no longer associated with their license as of 09/30/2019.”

The state regulators overseeing Daniels Academy seemed to have thought no more about Mr. Braze. They apparently relied on Daniels Academy’s notification that he was no longer associated with its program.

But multiple sources told MartyG Reports that Braze continued working with children at Daniels Academy for months after the background check. And Braze’s Facebook profile lists his job at Daniels Academy as having started October 14, 2019, some two weeks after the date on which Daniels Academy apparently told the state it had severed ties with him.

Fast forward to today and Braze is in prison, according to the Utah sex offender database. Court records indicate he is serving one to 15 years for sexual exploitation of a child, attempted sodomy of a child, enticement of a child and knowingly providing alcohol to a child. Each charged act occurred during or close to his employment at Daniels Academy.

According to state records, Conner Brazen is currently incarcerated at the Utah State Correctional Facility (pictured). (Utah Dept. of Corrections)

MartyG Reports asked the Utah Department of Health and Human Services what the consequences would be to Daniels Academy for failing to supervise an employee when the law required it.

“Any noncompliance of the background check rules would be noted on the facility’s compliance history” and “result in a citation,” the department answered. “Citations are levels of noncompliance that are immediately posted on our public website. A repetition of a citation will include Civil Money Penalties. If the noncompliance includes harm to any client, then the level of penalty will be increased.”

MartyG Reports then followed up with the state, citing unnamed sources who say Braze continued to work at the program into 2020. MartyG Reports also provided the state a P.D.F. of Braze’s Facebook profile, listing his Daniels Academy start date.

MartyG Reports asked the state whether Daniels Academy had misled regulators as to the dates of Braze’s employment and what kind of investigation it would undertake into the matter. MartyG Reports also asked Utah to clarify what constitutes “harm to any client” and a repeat citation. Utah is yet to answer these inquiries, but they are perhaps particularly relevant given recent events.

Last month 16-year-old Dee Rutzen died by suicide at Daniels Academy. Under the law, Daniels Academy had 24 hours in which to notify state licensors of Rutzen’s death, but instead took days. Last week the state announced a $10,000 fine against Daniels Academy, the maximum allowed by law, for its untimely reporting.

Rutzen was the second Daniels Academy client to die by suicide. Fourteen-year-old Ben Hertzman shot himself in the head in December 2020, while home on break from Daniels. See MartyG Reports’ prior coverage here.

The state also cited Daniels Academy for failure to background check and supervise more recent employees, failure to promptly report a “critical event” that happened August 2, 2023, and for attempting to manipulate or withhold a potential source in an investigation.

This is a developing story. Subscribe for free to MartyG Reports for updates.

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Nora Ashleigh Barrie coauthored this report. She maintains https://thetroubledteenindustry.com/ and manages The Surviving Abuse Podcast.