Heber City police chief speaks out on son’s sexual assault charges

Photo: New Chief of Police Parker Sever receiving his badge. Photo: Heber City Police Department.

HEBER CITY, Utah – Parker Sever, the Chief of Police in Heber City and father of Jayden Parker Sever, has apologized for the sexual abuse allegations against his son that emerged last week.

Jayden Parker Sever was arrested last week and has been charged with attempted rape and object rape of two elderly women while he was working as a caregiver at the Spring Gardens Senior Living center.

Jayden Sever is the adopted son of Chief Parker Sever.

In an interview with KSL, Chief Sever disclosed that he turned his son in after learning about his crimes.

“My son informed me of the crimes that he committed, and I turned him into the attorney general’s office,” Parker Sever said.

The alleged offenses took place during Sever’s time in the memory care unit, where he admitted to sexually abusing two women in their 80s with advanced dementia in February and March 2024.

Jayden Sever was adopted through foster care, and according to Chief Sever, his biological parents were “homeless drug addicts.”

“I feel bad about everything that’s happened,” Chief Sever told KSL. “I’m really sad that this happened. My primary concern is for the victims of the crime. I pray for them and their families and apologize for what occurred and happened to them.

“I wish there was something I could do to stop it before it happened, but I never thought he was capable of something like this.”

Utah’s 4th District Court is prosecuting Sever on attempted rape and object rape, both carrying a felony sentence.

“We’ve worked hard to try to give him the best life that we could,” Parker Sever said. “And he’s been a struggle for us. This wasn’t something that I thought he was capable of, that he committed these crimes. He’s going to have to work through the process of whatever the restitution is that’s required by law. He just needs mental health help, and I’ve tried for years and years to get that for him.”

Sever is currently being held in the Utah County Jail without bail.