Former BYU baseball starter sentenced for sexually assaulting young girl for 5 years

Candon Dean Dahle during his sentencing. | Kaitlyn Hart, EastIdahoNews.com ST. ANTHONY — Just hours after her first day of high school, a 15-year-old girl sat in a Fremont County courtroom and told a full gallery of people, both known to her and not, about her life from the ages of 7 to 12, when she was being sexually assaulted. Candon Dean Dahle, 22, was sentenced by District Judge Steven Boyce to a minimum of five and a maximum of ten years in prison. Boyce then suspended the sentence and placed Dahle on probation for eight years. He was also given a 180-day local jail sentence that began on Tuesday. After that, he will be required to complete 200 hours of community service. Dahle was arrested on Feb. 7 in Provo, Utah, on a juvenile court warrant out of Bingham County for lewd conduct with a child. He was then extradited and booked into the Bingham County Jail in Blackfoot. RELATED | Former east Idaho athlete arrested in Utah on lewd conduct allegations He was initially charged in two counties, Fremont and Bingham, both on one count of felony lewd conduct with a child. Dahle later accepted a plea agreement, where he agreed to plead guilty in Fremont County to amended charges of two counts of felony injury to a child. In return, the prosecution agreed to drop the case in Bingham County and not require Dahle to register as a sex offender while recommending a term of probation at sentencing. Dahle was a senior baseball pitcher at Brigham Young University in Provo, but is originally from Blackfoot. His athlete information has since been taken off the BYU baseball website. In February, BYU Media Relations Manager Todd Hollingshead confirmed to EastIdahoNews.com that Dahle was no longer enrolled at BYU. He was first enrolled at BYU in 2024, after transferring from the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. The victims speak The victim and three members of her family provided impact statements to the court, expressing their regret over agreeing to the plea agreement following an hours-long mediation session, and explaining the pain their family has experienced since they learned of the sexual assault. Her father described seeing his daughter’s personality change drastically over the years, and what it was like when he realized why. “I cannot even hug my daughter. Touch repulses her. She cringes and pulls away every time I make an attempt to hug her. Please let that sentence marinate for a minute,” said the father. “Listening to my daughter, her earliest memories of the abuse she can remember are at the age of seven. I wish I could show you the videos I have on my phone of her at that age. She is truly a gift from my Heavenly Father. She is filled with pure, absolute joy. Her laughter is so contagious. To think she had to endure a personal hell until the age of 12 is, at times, too much to bear for me.” Candon Dahle | Bingham County Jail Dahle shed a single tear as the victim’s stepfather spoke next, stating that the abuse destroyed relationships in their family. “We are learning how this trauma has changed the way that her brain functions, and that this will be a lifetime of her dealing with this pain. She has had several days where she could not eat,” said the victim’s stepfather. “She has lost many nights of sleep and has thrown up many days and nights because of this trauma. I often find her in my arms, sobbing uncontrollably, asking why this had to happen.” RELATED | Former BYU baseball starter accused of child sexual assault pleads guilty to lesser charge The stepfather continued, saying he has known Dahle since he was a child, and looks back on previous instances now that were potential red flags. “From a young age, Candon would always push the boundaries with everything, even personal touch, oftentimes making people feel uncomfortable,” said the victim’s stepfather. “He did these things right in front of me. In front of all of us … my wife and I see the counselor weekly. All I can think about is how wrong Candon’s actions are. There isn’t a day that goes by that some aspect of our lives is not affected by this.” The victim’s mother was the next to speak, telling the court that the victim has been independent and a “fighter” since birth, saying that she didn’t know how important those traits would be in her future. “She suffered excruciating stomach aches for much of her childhood. Many nights were spent in pain and vomiting. This would come and go and was a constant issue. She missed so much school, my dad told me she looked like she had cancer,” said the victim’s mother. “Now that I’ve pieced together that those painful nights were a child’s body crying out from trauma, I can hardly get out of bed each day.” She continued, saying she suspected that something was wrong with the victim, but that her daughter did not feel safe enough to divulge what was being done to her. “I asked if someone was hurting her, point-blank. She wasn’t safe enough to tell me then. I live every day with the devastation of not recognizing what Candon was doing to her,” said the victim’s mother. “If Candon had shown any remorse, things may look different today. Finally, I walked into a detective’s office with my daughter. This was painful for her. She told me she didn’t want to do it, but she wanted to protect others.” Candon Dahle’s BYU baseball photo. | BYU Baseball The victim spoke last, telling the court about the specific abuse she suffered from Dahle. “My earliest memory of the abuse is 7 years old, but I know he was touching me before that. Almost every time we were together, Candon was touching me under my clothes … some memories are so damaging, because it was me holding in cries of pain while Candon was pleasured,” said the victim. “I was just 11 years old when he covered my mouth because he didn’t want the family close by to know what he was doing.” She continued, expressing the depression she has experienced because of the abuse, and how it felt when she found out he had been arrested. “Every single day since I was seven, Candon has made me hate myself. I wake up every morning and have to give myself a reason to stay here. I want Candon to know that many days, I have felt I would have rather he ended my life than forced 7-year-old me to have to live through all those years of what he did to me,” said the victim. “You forced me to keep your secret for seven years. I sat through your baseball games, I watched the world cheer for you. I watched you achieve every church standing and be celebrated, all while I screamed inside because I knew the truth.” RELATED | Former BYU baseball starter from Blackfoot charged in two counties for alleged sex abuse of children Before concluding her statement, the victim addressed Dahle, telling him that she intends to take her power back and not let the abuse shape her life. “Candon acts powerful and entitled, but all it took was a 14-year-old girl to show the truth … your honor, I have worked so hard the last five months to find things I love again because he took everything from me,” said the victim. “I need you to know that if he gets off today, I will wonder for the rest of my life why I ever put myself and my family through this. Please don’t take away the only part of this that gives me some sense of peace.” Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake argued for a 10-year probation term, stating that while the court received many letters of support for Dahle, it does not cancel out the fact that he is convicted of sexually abusing the victim. “Oftentimes, these kinds of cases go unreported, and just the fact that she was able to vocalize has made her a survivor. It shows her strength and courage,” said Blake. “There were a lot of letters written in support of (Dahle). I’m sure the court has reviewed those. As I reviewed them, what came to mind for me is that a person can be good in a lot of ways. A person can have a lot of great qualities, but they can still have another side.” Blake acknowledged that Dahle completed a polygraph test that indicated he was telling the truth when he claimed he did not sexually abuse the victim, but noted that he did admit to the crime by pleading guilty. Dahle’s defense attorney, Curtis Smith, argued that his client should only receive three years of probation and no more than 30 days of local jail time, stating that many of the sexual assault allegations reportedly happened when Dahle was a minor, even though the incidents he was being sentenced for happened when he was 18. “There has been nothing in this case that has been done without the goal of looking to try to do this within the system in the best way for the victim’s primary and secondary, so that my client could take responsibility for what he did,” said Smith. “But have it understood that 98% of the misconduct happened when he was a juvenile as well.” Dahle then gave a statement to the court through tears, apologizing to the victim for the first time. “I just want to say to the victim, the victim’s family, my family, that I’m sorry. And I truly do mean that. I know I can’t fix what I’ve done. I can’t take back what had happened. But I do want them to know that I’m trying to rectify, and I have been, as Curtis said, I am going to counseling. I’m learning things, I’m progressing. I’m learning how it has affected the victim, their family, and their extended family, how it’s affecting me, and how it’s affecting other people that I might not even know,” said Dahle. “And I’m truly sorry. I want them to know that I know through all of this has been hard, but I still do have love for their family in my heart. And I know that if that’s not reciprocated, it’s okay. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about them and their well-being. And I want that to be known today.” Before ruling, Boyce gave his thoughts on the case, noting that Dahle has no previous criminal history and is still young, but acknowledging the severity and length of the abuse. “No matter how this all resolves, there’s probably going to be forever angst in this family,” said Boyce. That’s what happened as a result of your own selfish and foolish conduct. This strikes me as so unnecessary with all of the things you had going for you.”The post Former BYU baseball starter sentenced for sexually assaulting young girl for 5 years appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com