Father, mother testify at custody trial for Utah siblings who said they were abused

On the first day of a weeklong custody trial that could have sweeping ramifications for the unsupported theory of “parental alienation,” a father accused of sexually abusing his children testified that he is committed to his children knowing “the truth of my innocence.”

“Is there a reason you haven’t just walked away?” Brent Larson’s attorney, Ron Wilkinson, asked him when he took the stand on Monday in a Provo, Utah, courtroom.

“Many times, I've thought that to be honest with you. But the real reason is, is these kids cannot, they cannot grow up thinking that their father abused them in all these horrific ways. And they're all untrue,” Larson testified. “They need to know the truth.”

While determining the merit of abuse claims generally falls outside the purview of a custody trial, which takes place in civil, rather than criminal, court the judge in this case has said he intends the trial to investigate that question.

“To date, no court has adjudicated the central question of whether the children were abused by Brent,” Judge Derek Pullan of Utah’s Fourth Judicial District said during a pretrial hearing in August. “In my view, what these parties require is not a temporary order, but the adjudication of this fundamental question.”

Larson, 41, father of Ty and Brynlee Larson, was investigated by Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services in 2018 after both of his children came forward separately with claims of sexual abuse. The Arizona Republic generally does not name victims of sexual abuse, but the siblings asked to be named to raise awareness about their case and advocate for other minors facing similar situations. Their mother supported that decision.

After forensic interviews, state child welfare workers determined abuse allegations were “supported” and described the abuse as “severe and chronic.” The findings led to a temporary restraining order against Larson that prohibited him from having any contact with his children for several months.

Despite these findings, Larson has continued to push for custody of his children — an effort in which he nearly succeeded one year ago. In December 2022, Pullan signed an order temporarily returning the children into their father’s custody and authorizing police to use “reasonable force” to make the minors comply with the court order.

The siblings barricaded themselves in a bedroom at their mother’s house to avoid complying with the order. While doing so, they posted and livestreamed about their situation on the social media platform TikTok. Their posts created a social media firestorm; Ty’s initial post garnered more than 400,000 views, and his round-the-clock livestream on the platform attracted thousands of online viewers.

The uproar culminated in Pullan pausing his order while Larson was criminally investigated on charges of child abuse. Multiple special victims' prosecutors screened the case and concluded that the available evidence did not support a reasonable likelihood of conviction.

Larson successfully convinced the court to return the children to his custody, despite the child welfare findings of abuse, by citing the unsupported psychological theory of “parental alienation,” in which one parent accuses the other of brainwashing a child to turn that child against them.

Larson accused his ex-wife, Jessica Zahrt, of mounting a campaign of parental alienation against him that caused the children to falsely believe they were abused.

What happened on the first day of the trial

At the trial on Monday, Larson’s attorney doubled down on accusations that Zahrt has knowingly disparaged Larson through videos on her personal TikTok account, to which her children, along with the public, reasonably have access.

Zahrt countered that she has blocked her children from seeing the content on her personal account and that her content was primarily intended to raise awareness about the “parental alienation industry.” Zahrt also has used her personal TikTok account to speak about surviving domestic violence.

"You indicated in TikTok that you're a domestic violence victim, correct?” Wilkinson asked Zahrt during a cross-examination on Monday.

“Correct,” said Zahrt.

“And you posted that online?”

“Yes.”

“Is that something that would be derogatory toward Mr. Larson?”

“It’s something that’s true ... sometimes the truth is unflattering, Mr. Wilkinson,” Zahrt said.

Zahrt maintains that she has never disparaged her ex-husband in front of her children and has consistently supported her children having a relationship with their father.

Wednesday, in a rare exception for custody cases, the children are scheduled to testify on their own behalf.

Zahrt said she remains committed to supporting her children in sharing “their truths,” even if it is held against her in court.

“This trial is about more to me than just my family,” Zahrt said. “It is about the countless children and families who have previously been silenced by family courts. Maybe this time, we can speak in a way that the court will finally listen.”

Potential effects: In Utah, 2 children say they were abused. A trial will determine if the accused father gets custody

Hannah Dreyfus is an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic. You can reach her at hannah.dreyfus@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Parents testify in Utah custody trial of siblings who were barricaded