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

Two siblings who barricaded themselves in a bedroom in Utah for two months earlier this year to defy a court order giving their father custody — an act that stoked a social media firestorm — will testify in court this week.

That order came despite previous findings by state child welfare investigators that the siblings’ father had sexually abused them.

The weeklong trial, which will play out in Provo, could have broad national implications on the issue of “parental alienation,” an unsupported psychological theory in which one parent accuses the other of brainwashing a child to turn that child against them.

Two states, California and Colorado, passed legislation this year prohibiting family court judges from ordering certain treatments for the supposed condition and lawmakers in a host of other states — including Arizona — are considering introducing similar proposals.

Ty Larson, 16, the older sibling, said the ongoing court battle has undermined his chances of “moving forward and healing.”

“I still feel scared,” said the high school junior, who first told child welfare officials about his father’s abuse in 2018 at age 11. The Arizona Republic generally does not name victims of sexual abuse, but Ty and his sister, Brynlee, asked to be named to raise awareness about their case and advocate for other minors facing similar situations. Their mother supported that decision.

“It’s like, I haven’t had the time to heal. If you’re getting cut and then your skin starts to scab up and then you just cut it again and again, it’s never going to heal.”

Ty’s sister, Brynlee, 12, also came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against her father a few months before her brother.

In 2018, Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services found that Brent Larson, their father, had sexually and emotionally abused his children. Investigators categorized the abuse as “severe and chronic.” The findings led to restricting Larson’s parenting time to a handful of supervised monthly visits, as well as a 150-day restraining order that prohibited him from having any other contact with the children.

Through his attorney, Ron Wilkinson, Larson declined to comment out of concern for his children's best interests.

"At this time, while he would certainly like to provide his perspective on the situation, he prefers the matter to be handled through the courts and hoping that this approach will minimize the impact on the children," Wilkinson said in a statement.

Larson previously disputed the 2018 findings that he had abused the children.

“There have been similar false claims — repeatedly, for years. The stories continue to change and expand each time — always about the same events," Wilkinson told ProPublica in a statement earlier this year.

Larson has argued to the court that the children’s mother and his ex-wife, Jessica Zahrt, convinced the children to believe he had abused them as part of her “campaign” of parental alienation against him. The theory of parental alienation is not accepted as a mental health disorder by psychiatry’s diagnostic bodies, including the American Psychiatric Association.

Zahrt said watching the emotional toll this has taken on her children is devastating.

“There’s no way to turn the emotion off,” she said. “The trial means more to me than just the voices of Ty and Bryn – they are speaking out and elevating this issue for all the kids who have been silenced by family court and the parental alienation industry.”

Social media firestorm before a pause on court order

In December 2022, Judge Derek Pullan of Utah’s Fourth Judicial District issued an order authorizing police to use “reasonable force” to remove the children from their mother’s home, where they had barricaded themselves in an upstairs bedroom, and deliver them to the custody of their father.

“The children operate under the false perception that they are in the driver’s seat. They believe that the responsibility for deciding whether parent-time will occur, when, and on what terms ... rests on their shoulders,” the judge’s order read. “In fact, these responsibilities are properly shouldered by adults, including parents, teachers, and (when necessary) judges.”

Ty posted about the case from the barricaded room on TikTok; one of his first posts about his situation garnered over 400,000 views. The siblings proceeded to do a round-the-clock livestream on the social media site, attracting the attention of thousands of online viewers.

In March, Pullan paused his order while prosecutors determined if there was enough evidence to criminally prosecute Larson on child abuse charges.

Multiple special victims' prosecutors screened the case and concluded that the available evidence did not support a reasonable likelihood of conviction. In a June letter explaining the decision, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill wrote that the decision not to prosecute “should not be construed as a judgement on the underlying allegations.”

In the upcoming trial, Pullan said the central focus is whether the children were abused by their father.

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

Experts point out that claims of “parental alienation” almost always, if not every time, follow abuse allegations.

“I don’t think you can unpack claims of alienation from claims of abuse,” said Sarah Katz, clinical professor of law and director of the Family Law Litigation Clinic at Temple University Beasley School of Law. “Parental alienation is really raised as an affirmative defense in situations of abuse, when the real issue is that the court is discounting those allegations.”

The trial comes as states across the country move to restrict courts’ recognition and treatment of parental alienation. That treatment can include so-called “reunification camps,” which are court-ordered interventions that use forceful methods to reunite children with a parent they are resisting.

The typical week-long intervention prescribed by these programs can include transporting minors across state lines, often against their will, to a vacation rental or motel where the intervention takes place. There, a court-appointed counselor attempts to disabuse children of their negative beliefs about a parent, sometimes including the belief that they were abused. The intervention can cost up of $15,000, according to families who have participated in them.

A year ago, the Larson children were ordered to attend such a program: Turning Points for Families, which claims to treat victims of parental alienation and refers to its services as a “therapeutic vacation.”

The judge later decided to postpone this order until he received more information about the Turning Points program.

In October, California passed legislation prohibiting family court judges from forcing minors to attend reunification camps. Colorado was the first state to implement such a law in May.

Several other states, including Arizona, Utah, Tennessee and Maryland, are considering similar legislation to comply with the federal Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, also known as Kayden’s Law.

The federal law is named after a 7-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was murdered by her father during court-ordered custody time and promises up to $25 million in grants to states that enact family court reforms to better protect victims of child and domestic abuse.

“The past year has shown us that a paradigm shift is possible, even in the most challenging areas of law,” said Danielle Pollack, policy manager at the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University. “But it takes years of careful, collaborative and highly strategic work.”

The push towards family-court reform was reenergized by “grassroots advocates” becoming increasingly organized and vocal, Pollack said. “Child safety advocates are at a critical juncture.”

For Ty, the opportunity to finally address the judge directly about his situation is a win, but the unknowns ahead loom large.

“I’m just waiting for the time to tick down. I can't think to Christmas right now,” he said. “Right now, I can’t think past this trial.”

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: Utah siblings who barricaded in protest of court ruling will get trial