A former Cache County victim services director has been charged with felony communications fraud after prosecutors say she invented a doctorate degree to avoid losing a chunk of her salary. Terryl Lee Warner, 63, allegedly held onto a 30% pay increase for years by claiming she had earned a doctoral degree she never actually completed, costing taxpayers more than $14,000 in the process.
Warner was charged with second-degree felony communications fraud under Utah Code, according to hjnews.com. Prosecutors allege she falsified her credentials specifically to avoid a pay reduction, and that her retention of the 30% salary bump resulted in $14,156.50 in additional compensation she was not entitled to.
According to the same report, Warner worked for Cache County from 1996 to 2024, eventually rising to lead the county's victim services division. In May 2020, she took on a second role as interim director of the Children's Justice Center, a dual assignment that came with its own pay increase on top of her existing salary.
A Doctorate That Never Materialized
The allegations trace back to June 2021, when Warner reportedly told an attorney with the Cache County Attorney's Office that she was working toward a doctorate in psychology through Liberty University. Then, on Nov. 17, 2022, she allegedly sent a text message containing what appeared to be a screenshot of an email congratulating her on completing the program, per the HJ News report.
Dane Murray, who was named interim Cache County attorney around that time, agreed to keep Warner at her dual-role salary based on her claim that she had earned the degree. Years later, in August 2024, the county asked Warner to verify her credentials — and she emailed a document titled “Graduation Packet” on Aug. 13, 2024, stating she had received an “Ethereal Doctor of Psychology in Grief Counseling” from Breyer State Theology University, according to HJ News.
That institution describes itself on its own website as unaccredited, stating plainly that Breyer State Theology University is not accredited by any U.S. accrediting agency. Murray said he would not have sought to retain Warner's additional compensation had he known her degree was not from an accredited university. He also said he would have taken steps to terminate her had he known she misrepresented her progress and degree completion.
Pay Cut, Suspension, and a Retaliation Lawsuit
Warner's pay was reduced and she was suspended one day after county staff determined her doctorate was not from an accredited university, according to the charging document cited in the reporting. Warner herself maintained that the reduction and suspension were handed down for a false and pretextual reason, and she resigned from her Cache County position in December 2024.
Two months later, in February 2025, Warner sued Cache County, alleging she had faced retaliation after flagging discrepancies involving county finances, including federal COVID-19 relief funds. As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, her lawsuit alleged that County Attorney Taylor Sorensen pressured her to campaign for him against Cameron Cox, and that she was pushed into the political crosshairs of that local election. Warner dropped that lawsuit in August 2025.
Why Outside Prosecutors Took the Case
The Cache County Attorney's Office requested that an outside agency handle the criminal investigation rather than pursue it in-house. The case was assigned to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office to avoid local conflicts of interest.
Warner now faces a potential prison term of up to 15 years if convicted. Court documents reviewed in the reporting did not state a first appearance date for her case. The charges mark a stark turn for someone who spoke to a Utah House committee in 2018.
