The story explains explicit details of sexual assault.
This article was written by Salt Lake Tribune, a member of Propublica’s Local Reporting Network. Sign up for Dispatch to get stories like this as soon as it is published.
Former Utah therapist Scott Owen admitted to sexually abusing some of the patients during a session in Provo court on Monday.
Provo Police began an investigation into Owen in 2023 after the Salt Lake Tribune and Propobrica reported on the scope of their sexual abuse. Latter-day Saints’ Church of Jesus Christ. Several men who spoke to the Tribune and Propovica said their bishops used church funds to pay for the session.
Owen gave up his treatment license in 2018 after accusing the state licensors of several patients inappropriately touching them, but the allegations were not investigated by police and were not widely known. . He continued to play an active role in his therapy business, Canyon Counseling, until the newsroom published the investigation.
By pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree felony enforced sodomy on Monday, Owen publicly admitted to the first public that he sexually abused a patient.
Owen, 66, admitted that two male patients had been sexually abused “using their therapist status,” leading them to believe that sexual contact was part of the treatment.
He also did not give a dispute on Monday on another first-degree felony that aggravated child sexual abuse in connection with a third patient – Owen inappropriately responded to her during the 13-year-old session A woman claiming she touched it. An uncontested plea means that Owen refused to admit that he committed the crime, but he allowed the prosecutor to present evidence at trial that would likely lead him to a conviction.
Owen faces the biggest prison sentence at the sentence hearing scheduled for March 31.
Prosecutors agreed in a plea agreement to dismiss the other seven felony charges Owen faced in connection with the two male victims. Both told police that Owen engaged in sexual contact during the therapy session. It includes kissing, hugging, and Owen’s hands touching the anus.
Owen has admitted in judicial documents that he may have sexual contact with two patients, including putting one patient’s test circle into his mouth.
Utah Supreme Court rules that doctors’ sexual assault allegations are not “health care.”
In the documents in the judiciary agreement, Owen admitted that as a therapist he was in a special position of trust when he had sexual contact with his patients. According to Utah law, patients agree to sexual activity with a healthcare professional if they believe that inspiration is part of a “medical or professionally appropriate diagnosis, counseling, or treatment.” It cannot be done.
According to court records, Provo police interviewed at least dozens of former Owen patients. Many of these patients are men who told police they were seeking treatment with Owen because of “same-sex attraction.” Provo Police Colonel Brian Taylor said some of the former patient reports included allegations that were outside the window of time when prosecutors had to file a case called the Restrictions Act. .
Under a negotiation settlement with Utah’s licensing department in 2018, Owen was able to waive his license without recognizing inappropriate conduct, and the sexual nature of the patient’s allegations was when he gave up his license. It is not listed in the document signed.
Both the state licensors and local leaders of the LDS Church were aware of the inappropriate and inspirational allegations against Owen in 2016. Reports by the Tribune and Propobrica showed, but they never reported Owen to police. In Utah, with a few exceptions, the state’s licensing department is not legally required to transfer information to law enforcement.
The church took all issues of sexual misconduct seriously, and in 2019, secretly commented on internal records to warn the bishop that Owen’s actions threatened the happiness of others and the church. He said he attached it.
