PROVO — A founder of the popular Ancestry.com genealogy website has been sentenced to prison for sexually abusing of a 15-year-old girl during a sleepover.
Daniel Taggart, 51, of Highland, was sentenced Friday to four consecutive terms of zero to five years in prison, deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride confirmed.
Prosecutors had recommended as part of a plea deal that Taggart's prison sentences run concurrently. However, 4th District Judge Claudia Laycock chose Friday to impose the maximum penalty available for the charges. Taggart pleaded guilty in October to reduced charges of attempted sexual abuse of a child and three counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse, all third-degree felonies.
While Taggart pleaded guilty to charges related to only one teenage girl, two victims were identified in the investigation, McBride noted. Both girls spoke at Friday's sentencing hearing, describing the traumatic impact Taggart's actions had on their lives.
Police say Taggart provided alcohol for his teenage daughter and her friend at a sleepover during the summer of 2014, playing games with the girls and offering shot glasses and sex toys as prizes.
After Taggart's daughter had apparently fallen asleep, the teenager told police Taggart turned on a pornographic video and sexually assaulted her, according to charging documents.
When the girl reportedly returned for a sleepover a month later, Taggart again gave her alcohol and sexually assaulted her, the charges state.
Taggart was arrested in March 2015 and was initially charged with two counts of object rape, a first-degree felony; forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; two counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony; and two counts of supplying alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
Taggart co-founded Ancestry.com in 1997 but is no longer with the company. He was the CEO of CubbyCode Inc. and Kringles Toys and Gifts at the time charges were filed, according to his profile on LinkedIn. He co-founded LDSAudio.com in September of 2003 and was CEO for a year. In 1990, he co-founded and ran Infobases Inc. for six years.
Email: mromero@deseretnews.com
Twitter: McKenzieRomero