A 5th District Court judge sentenced a volunteer youth coach last week after he was found guilty for having sex with a minor he met on an online hookup site.

Judge Matthew Bell sentenced Chad Kay Robertson, 39, to one year in the Iron County Jail Monday June 3 and two years probation with credit for time served since Jan. 25 when he was first arrested. 

Robertson, a former volunteer basketball coach for Parowan City, was convicted on one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and dealing harmful materials to a minor, both third-degree felonies. 

Robertson initially faced seven third-degree felonies including five counts of unlawful sexual conduct, one count of dealing harmful materials to a minor and one count of enticing a minor. However, the state dismissed all but two of the charges as part of a plea agreement. 

According to court documents, Robertson met the minor through an online site called Sniffies, a map-based hookup web app for gay, bisexual and bicurious men, where the minor misrepresented his age. 

“The 16-year-old minor stated that he lied about his age on this website in order to create his Sniffies profile account,” the affidavit states. 

Authorities said the boy reported meeting Robertson several times in various locations, including Robertson’s home and a nearby park. Evidence from the boy’s cell phone, including images and messages, supported his statements.

While the minor did not ever disclose his age to the defendant, he told police Robertson had seen him in a high school play where the two made eye contact several times. He also stated that their sexual relationship continued thereafter. 

During the investigation, Robertson admitted to police the sexual interactions and to sending inappropriate photographs to the minor. He acknowledged that one encounter also occurred when the boy was 15 years old.

The minor told authorities that on Halloween he went “Trick or Treating” at Robertson’s house with his friends and said he was surprised when Robertson’s wife answered the door. 

While, according to the court documents, Robertson had always left the lights off in the house when the two were together, the minor was still able to describe the inside of the home to officers.

Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson said that under Utah law, ignorance of a minor’s true age is not a defense in these types of cases.

“It is the adult’s responsibility to verify the age of their sexual partner,” Dotson said. “In cases like this the prosecution does not have to prove intent. So, in other words, we don’t have to show that he intended to have sex with a minor because adults are responsible to make sure that who they’re sleeping with are of age.” 

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Parowan Youth Coach Convicted of Unlawful Conduct with a Minor2 min read

Correction 6/17/24: Mr. Robertson never volunteered for Parowan High School. He was a volunteer with Parowan City. 

 

By Tracie Sullivan

A 5th District Court judge sentenced a volunteer youth coach last week after he was found guilty for having sex with a minor he met on an online hookup site.

Judge Matthew Bell sentenced Chad Kay Robertson, 39, to one year in the Iron County Jail Monday June 3 and two years probation with credit for time served since Jan. 25 when he was first arrested. 

Robertson, a former volunteer basketball coach for Parowan City, was convicted on one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and dealing harmful materials to a minor, both third-degree felonies. 

Robertson initially faced seven third-degree felonies including five counts of unlawful sexual conduct, one count of dealing harmful materials to a minor and one count of enticing a minor. However, the state dismissed all but two of the charges as part of a plea agreement. 

According to court documents, Robertson met the minor through an online site called Sniffies, a map-based hookup web app for gay, bisexual and bicurious men, where the minor misrepresented his age. 

“The 16-year-old minor stated that he lied about his age on this website in order to create his Sniffies profile account,” the affidavit states. 

Authorities said the boy reported meeting Robertson several times in various locations, including Robertson’s home and a nearby park. Evidence from the boy’s cell phone, including images and messages, supported his statements.

While the minor did not ever disclose his age to the defendant, he told police Robertson had seen him in a high school play where the two made eye contact several times. He also stated that their sexual relationship continued thereafter. 

During the investigation, Robertson admitted to police the sexual interactions and to sending inappropriate photographs to the minor. He acknowledged that one encounter also occurred when the boy was 15 years old.

The minor told authorities that on Halloween he went “Trick or Treating” at Robertson’s house with his friends and said he was surprised when Robertson’s wife answered the door. 

While, according to the court documents, Robertson had always left the lights off in the house when the two were together, the minor was still able to describe the inside of the home to officers.

Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson said that under Utah law, ignorance of a minor’s true age is not a defense in these types of cases.

“It is the adult’s responsibility to verify the age of their sexual partner,” Dotson said. “In cases like this the prosecution does not have to prove intent. So, in other words, we don’t have to show that he intended to have sex with a minor because adults are responsible to make sure that who they’re sleeping with are of age.” 

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4 comments

  • Brooklyn Leiker

    Absolutely disgusting.

  • Grace Frost

    For some reason none of these articles are covering how he was a program DIRECTOR at Lifequest girls academy. The school alone needs to be shut down and investigated, I went there and was being taught “life skills” by a pedophile is wild. Let alone how they treated us. We were begging to be heard and still haven’t been. I wonder what has been done with the camera in our bedrooms there. The footage was looked over by Chad and I’m wondering if he distributed videos of us girls. It’s concerning to say the least, I hope justice is served.

  • Molly Simon

    I would like to add something all these articles about Chad have been (for some reason) leaving out. This man worked at a troubled girls home (which is a horrible place btw) called Life Quest Girls Academy in Parowan Utah, with up to about 40 girls ages 12-17.

    Girls here can only have supervised phone calls if privileged with even that, and can not leave on their own at all.

    So not only did he couch a basketball team at the high school, but he also had a job as a PROGRAM DIRECTOR for vulnerable teenage girls…

  • Kaytee Boggs

    Slap on the wrist for such serious offenses. I’m disappointed with our judicial system. This isn’t justice for our kids. This seems to turn the other cheek for unforgivable behavior. This dude should’ve known better, he was a trusted person in the community. Makes this all the more reprehensible.

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