Retired sheriff’s deputy charged with years of sexual abuse of juvenile employees

MONTICELLO – More than a dozen criminal charges have been filed against a retired San Juan County deputy sheriff accused of years of sexually abusing children.

Grayson W. Redd, 74, of Monticello, was charged Friday in 7th District Court with three counts of simulated rape of a child and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child (first-degree felonies) and eight counts of sexual abuse (second-degree felonies).

Prosecutors moved to suppress Redd’s arrest warrant pending his arrest, citing that he is “a prominent member of rural San Juan County. The defendant has deep family roots in San Juan County, is well known among locals, and is a retired Chief Deputy of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. This is a case where information, once it becomes public, will immediately be widely reported in local and national news.”

Three boys who had been “employed by Grayson Redd during the summer months” since 2003 were abused, according to charging documents unsealed Monday. The abuse lasted for several years for each victim, the indictment says, and the boys were mostly in their teens at the time of the abuse.

Redd retired from the sheriff’s office in 2011.

“Due to the nature of this case, the defendant’s standing in the community, and the lengthy duration of the charged conduct, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney would like to encourage anyone who may be a victim of Mr. Redd to contact the San Juan County Victim Advocate via email at [email protected] or at 435-587-2237 to be connected to all available crime victim resources,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement over the weekend.

Grayson Redd is the father of Brian Redd, the executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections. Glen Mills, a spokesman for the corrections department, issued a brief statement on Monday: “He and the family just found out about this and are trying to process what is happening.”