Third District Judge Matthew Bates has now dismissed defamation claims against KPCW and The Park Record that Bogdan Badiu first filed in July 2025.
Badiu sued Park City-area media after they reported on child porn charges against him that Summit County prosecutors later dropped.
In court Jan. 23, Bates sympathized with Badiu but ruled that The Park Record’s reporting was protected by Utah law since it was based on court documents.
“The Legislature has made a policy decision to protect this kind of speech,” the judge said. “It is important that our newspapers be able to publish things the government's doing, and that's what this ruling reflects.”
Bates granted The Park Record’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, with prejudice, meaning Badiu cannot refile it. Attorney Carolyn LeDuc said the newspaper plans to pursue attorney’s fees from Badiu.
The Deer Valley-area tennis instructor’s defamation claim against KPCW, which the station denied, did not make it as far. The two sides agreed to dismiss them last November, with each covering their own attorney’s fees.
TownLift was also sued. Badiu’s attorney Steve Christensen says they agreed not to require the online news outlet to respond to the July 2025 lawsuit.
