Ex-BYU Baseball Player Sentenced for Years of Child Sexual Abuse
Just hours after beginning her high school journey, a 15-year-old girl stood before a packed courtroom in Fremont County, Idaho, and spoke with unwavering courage.
Her voice, though young, carried the weight of years of trauma, years in which she was sexually assaulted from the age of 7 to 12 by Candon Dean Dahle, a man once celebrated as a senior baseball pitcher at Brigham Young University.
Dahle, now 22, was sentenced by District Judge Steven Boyce to a minimum term of five years and a maximum term of ten years in prison. However, the sentence was suspended, and Dahle was placed on probation for eight years. He will serve 180 days in local jail and complete 200 hours of community service.
The plea agreement allowed Dahle to plead guilty to two counts of felony injury to a child, avoiding sex offender registration and dropping charges in Bingham County.
In court, the affected child and her family delivered powerful impact statements. Her father described the heartbreaking transformation in his daughter, how touch now repulses her, how joy was stolen from her childhood.
Her stepfather spoke of sleepless nights, vomiting from trauma, and the haunting realization that Dahle’s behavior had long raised red flags. Her mother recounted years of unexplained pain and missed school, now understood as her child’s body crying out from abuse.
The affected child recounted the abuse in painful detail, the depression it caused, and the agony of watching her abuser be celebrated while she suffered in silence. But she also declared her intent to reclaim her life, telling the court, “Candon acts powerful and entitled, but all it took was a 14-year-old girl to show the truth.”
Prosecutor Lindsey Blake emphasized the affected child’s strength in coming forward, noting that many such cases go unreported. Defense attorney Curtis Smith argued for leniency, citing Dahle’s age during most of the misconduct. Dahle, through tears, apologized publicly for the first time.
Judge Boyce acknowledged Dahle’s lack of criminal history but underscored the gravity of his actions. “No matter how this all resolves, there’s probably going to be forever angst in this family,” he said. “That’s what happened as a result of your own selfish and foolish conduct.”
This case is a painful reminder of the lifelong impact sexual abuse can have on a child, and of the urgent responsibility society holds to protect them. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to be safeguarded from sexual abuse.
