Tooele life coach accused of grooming, abusing clients
Mar 20, 2025, 6:56 PM
A life skills coach in Tooele previously investigated for alleged sexual abuse of a child has been arrested for misconduct involving two girls and a woman, according to police. A life skills coach in Tooele previously investigated for alleged sexual abuse of a child has been arrested for misconduct involving two girls and a woman, according to police. (Brian A Jackson, Shutterstock)
(Brian A Jackson, Shutterstock)
TOOELE — A life skills coach in Tooele has been arrested after allegedly grooming and sexually abusing multiple clients.
Douglas Richens, 52, was booked into the Tooele County Jail on Wednesday and charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with sodomy on a child and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, first-degree felonies; sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony; and sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.
Richens is a co-owner at Gray Space Experts, 102 W. 1180 North, in Tooele. A woman recently contacted Tooele police and told them “she began to see the life coach Douglas Richens and she allowed herself to be very vulnerable with him and talk about her problems,” a police booking affidavit states. At the end of her session on March 4, Richens allegedly slapped the woman’s butt and said, “‘Oh, that was inappropriate,’ but never apologized or said anything else,” the affidavit states.
After discussing the incident with her husband, the woman went to police.
“(The woman) told me she made contact with other women who had seen Mr. Richens at Gray Space Experts and they reported Mr. Richens had groomed them toward sexual activity. I later interviewed these women who provided statements to me, which I reviewed. The incidents these women reported did not appear to violate any state or federal statute, but it all seemed very unprofessional and inappropriate. The statements also appeared to be possible attempts to groom the women based on my training and experience. I was told that other women wanted to talk to me about being groomed by Mr. Richens, but I have not interviewed them yet,” the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit.
On Monday, the same detective was assigned another case in which a teen girl claimed she was inappropriately touched by Richens, according to the affidavit.
“(She) stated she had approximately four or five sessions with Mr. Richens and he made her do strange stretches that made no sense to her,” the affidavit states. “(The girl) said she knew what Mr. Richens was doing was wrong but she did not know how to make him stop.”
While looking into that case, the detective learned of a third incident in 2020 involving a young girl who says she was sexually abused by Richens at his home, the affidavit states. Richens was questioned about that alleged abuse a few years ago but “refused to comment, asking for a lawyer to be present.” The girl and her family eventually “found the investigation to be very difficult and asked that the case be closed and no longer involve their daughter,” according to the affidavit.
On Tuesday, police contacted that girl’s family again. This time, the family said the girl, now in her teens, “felt much stronger” and wanted to proceed with pressing charges, the affidavit states.
After Richens was taken into custody on Wednesday, police learned he “has no license to practice medicine or any kind of counseling,” according to the affidavit.
Police also note in the affidavit that “other individuals have reported being groomed by Mr. Richens at (Gray Space Experts) and it is highly probable, based on these facts, that Mr. Richens has more appointments with women and children, and if released, he will offend again.”
If anyone has been victimized by Richens or knows of someone who has, they can call police at 435-882-5600.
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