Former youth camp counselor charged in sexual relationship with teen

Former youth camp counselor charged in sexual relationship with teen

(Davis County Jail)


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FARMINGTON — A man who once worked as a counselor for BYU’s Especially For Youth program was charged with seven felonies Monday for his alleged sexual relationship with a teenage boy he met at the religious seminar in 2012.

Keldon Severn “KC” Cook, 29, was charged in 2nd District Court with four counts of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; one count each of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor; and one third-degree felony count of dealing in materials harmful to a minor.

Cook's initial court appearance is currently unscheduled, and no defense lawyer was listed in his case as of Monday evening.

Cook, who was also assistant cheerleading coach at Alta High School in 2014-15, was reportedly the counselor in charge of the 14-year-old boy when the two met at the weeklong program at BYU. He was arrested by Bountiful police Thursday for investigation of his charges.

Cook stayed in contact with the boy through social media and texting, police say, and began sending "inappropriate" and "disgusting" messages.


(Cook) asked (the boy) inappropriate questions that were very confusing to the male because he 'looked up' to the defendant as the defendant was his mentor and counselor at EFY.

–Keldon Severn Cook's charging documents


"(Cook) asked (the boy) inappropriate questions that were very confusing to the male because he 'looked up' to the defendant as the defendant was his mentor and counselor at EFY," Cook's charging documents read.

Cook, of Provo, met up with the boy at the LDS Bountiful Temple and went with him to a nearby park in March 2014 under the premise of "catching up," according to his charges.

"(Cook) made advances toward the minor male in the minor male's car," the charges state. "The minor male stated to law enforcement that the defendant persuaded him that the contact they had was acceptable and that it was acceptable because (Cook) was his EFY counselor."

Cook allegedly performed a sex act on the boy, which the teenager later told police was "traumatizing." The boy said he temporarily stopped communicating with Cook afterward.

According to charging documents, Cook met up with the teen, now 17, twice more in 2014, and the two performed sex acts on one another at the same Davis County park.

Cook and the boy exchanged explicitly sexual photos with each other during the same time period, the charges state.

"The defendant told the minor male that this was acceptable as he had photos with other 'EFY boys,'" the charges state.

Cook was recently offered the position of head cheerleading coach at Brighton High School by the Canyons School District. However, the district reported last week it had withdrawn the offer and fired Cook from his assistant coach position at Alta.

Cook was not a teacher at Alta High.

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Ben Lockhart

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