Nielsen was going through Utah’s Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, when he allegedly disclosed during a background interview that he sexually abused a girl in Heber when he was 16 and she was nine.
The girl told investigators from the Division of Child and Family Services that Nielsen assaulted her repeatedly, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in 4th District Court.
Nielsen is charged with four felony counts – two each of sodomy on a child and sexual abuse of a child. An initial court appearance is scheduled for April 24. Court documents don’t indicate whether Nielsen has an attorney.
It’s not clear from court documents which law enforcement agency Nielsen hoped to join.
A spokesperson for POST told KPCW Nielsen was dismissed from its training program and the allegations were referred to investigators in Wasatch County.
