Ex-Cache County worker faces fraud charge for allegedly misrepresenting her education

OGDEN — The former director of victims services in Cache County, a long-time county employee, has been charged with communications fraud for allegedly misrepresenting her educational background.

The Utah County Attorney's Office investigated the matter, formally charging Terryl Lee Warner of Hyrum with communications fraud, a second-degree felony, on Oct. 20. The charges were initially filed in 1st District Court in Logan in Cache County, but the case was transferred on Monday to 2nd District Court in Ogden.

According to charging papers, Warner, 63, worked as a Cache County employee for more than 28 years, between 1996 and 2024. She had been working as director of victims services, an office that provides support to victims of crimes prosecuted by the Cache County Attorney's Office. Then in 2020 she took on the additional role as interim director of the Cache County Children's Justice Center, where investigators interview victims of child abuse.

With the interim director posting, Warner received a pay raise. In late 2022, she told county officials she wanted to leave the Children's Justice Center posting but didn't want to give up the elevated pay level. She pointed to an apparent doctoral degree she had received in 2022 from Liberty University, an accredited university based in Lynchburg, Virginia, and new responsibilities she had taken on as victims services director.

The interim county attorney at the time concurred with Warner, authorizing the higher pay level to stay in effect. But later, in August 2024, officials learned that, in fact, her degree didn't come from Liberty University, but an unaccredited institution, Breyer State Theology University, based in Bradenton, Florida.

The interim county attorney at the time, identified by the initials D.M., "stated that had he known that defendant had not received a Ph.D. from an accredited university, he would not have requested that defendant receive the same level of pay," charging papers read. Rather, "had he known that defendant had been lying regarding her work on a Ph.D. and receiving her Ph.D., he would have immediately taken action to terminate her employment with Cache County."

Warner earned $81,365.18 in wages in 2019 and that increased to $98,033.65 in 2020 after she took on the children's justice center responsibilities, according to data compiled by the Utah State Auditor's office. Her wages steadily increased and in 2024, after giving up children's justice center duties, her pay amounted to $113,232.21.

As to her educational background, information Warner provided to Cache County officials in 2022 indicated she had received a doctorate degree of philosophy in psychology with an emphasis in trauma and grief from Liberty University. When the officials sought confirmation in 2024, Warner supplied documentation showing she had earned an ethereal doctorate of psychology in grief counseling from Breyer in 2022.

According to the Breyer website, the institution complies with code set by the Florida Department of Education that exempts religious institutions from having to obtain a license and removes them from the purview of the Florida Commission for Independent Education. The commission has oversight authority over nonpublic, postsecondary educational institutions.

Ultimately, Warner resigned from her county position on Dec. 3, 2024, according to a lawsuit she filed against Cache County on Feb. 12, 2025.

In that lawsuit, she didn't reference her educational background but rather, charged county officials with violating the Utah Protection of Public Employees Act, meant to protect government whistleblowers. She alleged she had faced backlash for speaking out about suspected violations of law involving county officials. Ultimately, she asked that the case be dismissed, and it was dismissed on Aug. 22, 2025.

In transferring the criminal case against Warner from 1st District Court in Cache County to 2nd District Court in Weber County earlier this week, 1st District Court Judge Brian Cannell noted the woman's prior links with the Cache County Attorney's Office.

Warner "is a former employee of the Cache County Victim's Advocate Office which is associated with the Cache County Attorney's Office," Cannell wrote. "In accordance with recusal and reassignment procedure, and to avoid a possible conflict, this case is hereby ordered to be transferred to the Second District Court-Ogden for all further proceedings."

Warner is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the criminal case in Weber County on Nov. 12.