Former aide at Utah school for deaf children charged with child rape

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WEST JORDAN — A former teacher’s aide at a school for deaf children faces numerous counts of sexually abusing at least three young girls.

Tyler Agustin Jex, 29, of West Valley City, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with rape of a child, two counts of sodomy upon a child, and six counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.

In 2013, a woman took her 10-year-old daughter to Primary Children’s Hospital because of “increased aggression and violence” she had been exhibiting, according to charging documents. While at the hospital, the girl revealed that Jex, a teacher’s aide at the Jean Massieu School for the Deaf, had been inappropriately touching her, the charges state.

The alleged assaults happened in a school bathroom, according to charging documents. One time, a second girl, 11, was brought into the bathroom with them and forced to expose herself, the charges state.

“Tyler threatened (the girl) saying he would go to her teacher and her principal and get her in a lot of trouble if she told anyone,” according to charing documents.

Later, the 11-year-old girl opened up to police and disclosed another incident when she was 10. She said Jex inappropriately touched her in a classroom after school while the teacher was gone and she was waiting for a ride, the charges state.

In 2019, a third girl reported to police that when she was 11 and went to the school that she was pulled into the boy’s bathroom by Jex and raped, according to the charges.

“(The girl) asked Tyler why he would rape her, and she said he told her he wanted to get people pregnant,” the charges state.

Jex then tried to pay the girl $50 to $60 to have sex with him, according to the charges.

The girl also reported an incident at a school dance in which Jex grabbed her and ripped her dress. When Jex started showing up at the girl’s church even though it wasn't where he normally went to church, she went to police, the charges state.

Jex worked at the school from January 2012 until June 2013, according to the charges.

A spokeswoman for Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind said school administrators first became aware of allegations of misconduct by an employee with a student when they were notified by police in 2013.

The employee was escorted off campus that same day and “never returned,” communications director Susan Thomas told the Deseret News. School personnel “fully cooperated with the investigating authorities and immediately reported any additional information they may have learned” during the ensuing investigation, Thomas said.

“Our administration, faculty and staff members all take allegations of child abuse very seriously,” Thomas said. “Child safety is our No. 1 priority. Policies, procedures and consistent training are all in place to govern how we respond.”

Regarding the six year delay between the initial report against Jex and charges being filed, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said recent evidence allowed prosecutors to file charges in connection with the previous cases.

A $500,000 warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday.

Contributing: Gretel Kauffman

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