By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

On Thursday, June 19, Katie Jo Childs, a former property manager for Re/Max Bridge Reality, appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on charges stemming from allegations she had caused over $200,000 in damages by advising tenants she oversaw to pay her rent directly.

The preliminary hearing is essentially a mini-trial, where the prosecution has to prove to the judge that there is probable cause. According to the Utah State Courts,” If the judge thinks the prosecutor has enough evidence against you, your case moves ahead to trial. If not, the charges are dismissed. Charges an individual faces can also be changed or modified during a preliminary hearing.”

According to the complaint document, Potter Management alleges that” As a direct and proximate cause of Childs’ fraud, Re/Max has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial but believed to be in excess of $200,000.00. “

Opening the hearing, Judge Brian D. Bolinder disclosed that he had been a Re/Max Bridge Realty tenant until June of 2024. After a brief discussion between Childs and attorney Craig Johnson, they agreed to move forward with Bolinder as the judge.

The prosecution called its first witness, Carla Saccomano, a real estate agent and property manager for Bridge Realty. Saccomano explained to the court that within Re/Max, all rent payments are made online through the AppFolio program or in person through cash, a cashier’s check or a check directly to a company secretary.

Saccomano walked the court through the sequence of events leading to the allegations. Saccomano stated that after viewing a list of tenants who were late on payments, she began contacting the tenants who were on the list. “They showed me evidence they paid rent,” alleged Saccomano. She then contacted Sgt. Kelly Maynes with the Price City Police Department for the next steps she should take.

After contacting more tenants, Saccomano stated she confronted Childs about the payments, where Saccomano alleged that Childs had” an excuse for each tenant.” Saccomano claimed she then provided evidence of payment the tenants had shared with her before terminating Child’s employment with Bridge Realty.

Evidence of various checks, landlord/tenant agreements and screenshots of online payments were entered into evidence.

Other witnesses who took the stand included previous tenants who had worked with Childs and testified that they had made payments through Cash, Venmo and Cash App.

The final witness to testify was Sgt. Maynes, who provided the police perspective on the investigation to the court. Maynes testified that Saccomano had come to him with concerns about several properties that were missing rent and the aforementioned receipts from then-tenants. Maynes addressed these claims with Saccomano and the staff at Bridge Realty.

The investigation officially began on Oct. 21, with Maynes reviewing evidence, payment receipts and other items. This included a subpoena to Cash App, Venmo and Mountain America for financial information relating to the case.

Maynes also explained his interaction with Childs in the case, stating that after the investigation had begun, Childs approached him to speak on the matter. Maynes explained the allegations and advised Childs of her Miranda rights, with Childs still electing to talk without an attorney present. She provided Maynes with a direct statement from Cash App and said she “wasn’t aware” of regulations in the real estate industry surrounding the use of third-party apps like Venmo and Cash App.

Maynes testified that Childs had stated she wanted to make the matter right and pay back the money. She also stated that she was using the apps to pay property owners directly, a claim which Maynes said was disputed by the evidence.

Following her attorney’s advice, Childs did not testify in the hearing.

After all witnesses had left the stand, Judge Bolinder explained that to meet the threshold probable cause in the theft and communications fraud charges, the damages would have to be greater than $5000. He continued that with the evidence presented, the prosecution had met its burden of proof, and the matter could advance to a jury trial.

When asked for the plea, Johnson immediately said that Childs would plead not guilty to the charges.

The Child’s jury trial date is scheduled for four days, from Nov. 18 to Nov. 21. The final pretrial meeting will be held on Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.