Police: Man breaks into Taylorsville home, touches child, then hides under bed

TAYLORSVILLE — After touching a 14-year-old child on the chest and hiding under a bed, a man was arrested and facing felony counts related to burglary and child voyeurism.

According to a police affidavit, Allen Vance Gardner, 31, broke into a house using a rear window in order to “commit voyeurism of minor children, by his own admission.”

After breaking into the building, Gardner “had physical contact with (a child). (Gardner said) this was an attempt to wake (them) up to get him a drink of water,” the document states.

Gardner was hidden under a bed, with six children in the room, all under the age of 14. By the time police arrived, he was gone.

In an interview with police, he explained that “he did this because he does not like his group home and does not want to live there anymore,” according to the document.

Gardner has previously been charged with first-degree felony forcible sodomy in July 2021 in Uintah County. However, that charge was dismissed without prejudice in June 2022.

Gardner is booked at the Salt Lake County Jail on one count of burglary, a third-degree felony, and six counts of voyeurism against a child under the age of 14, a third-degree felony.