Taji Hillson: Criminal Charges, Plea, and Bail Reduction

Taji Hillson is a former Washoe County School District substitute employee in Reno, Nevada, who has been in custody since July 2, 2025 on five felony counts tied to the alleged sexual abuse of children, including her own daughter, over more than two decades. She has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say she confessed during a police interview to inappropriately touching at least a dozen children, most of them family members.¹

What the Allegations Are

The Reno Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit opened the investigation in May 2025 after receiving a report about the sexual assault of a child under 10 that had occurred roughly 20 years earlier.² The primary accuser is Hillson’s daughter, now in her 30s. She told investigators Hillson sedated her with Benadryl hidden in her food and sexually abused her throughout her childhood, most frequently between ages 6 and 12, with the conduct resuming in 2014 when she returned home from college. The alleged conduct spans 1998 to 2022.³

During a June 25, 2025 police interview, Hillson admitted sedating her daughter with Benadryl so she could touch her while she slept, according to the arrest report. She also admitted inappropriately touching at least a dozen other children she identified as family members in North Carolina, and told police she had grabbed the penis of a 2-year-old neighbor floating in a raft at a community pool in Reno within the previous few years. Hillson told police she did these things because she “never felt seen and desired to be close to another person,” according to the report.⁴

The Charges She Faces

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks announced the charges on July 10, 2025. Hillson is charged with:

One count of sexual assault against a child under 14
One count of sexual assault
Three counts of lewdness with a child under 14

The filed case involves two identified victims, one of them a toddler. Hicks called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and credited “the extraordinary courage of the adult victim who came forward.”⁵

Under Nevada law, sexual assault against a child under 14 is a Category A felony. Without substantial bodily harm, it carries life in prison with parole eligibility after a minimum of 35 years. With substantial bodily harm, the penalty is life without parole.⁶

Where the Case Stands

On April 9, 2026, Hillson’s attorney, Jennifer Mayhew, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf before Washoe County District Judge Lynne Jones. Hillson did not appear in person.⁷

Bail was originally set at $5 million with no 10 percent cash option.⁵ On June 17, 2026, Judge Jones reduced it to $4 million. The defense had asked for $100,000, calling the original figure “cruel and unusual punishment” and Hillson’s nearly year-long detention a “de facto detention order.”⁸ If Hillson posts bond, Jones ordered her to submit to house arrest, surrender her passport, move away from her current home because of its proximity to an alleged victim, abstain from drugs and alcohol, have only supervised contact with children, and have no contact with any alleged victim.⁹

Mayhew told the court there is “little to no credible evidence” supporting the allegations and said the daughter fabricated her account. According to the defense, the daughter had made similar abuse allegations against other family members, including nieces, nephews, and cousins, that police did not pursue after the accused refuted them, and she allegedly first “received” information about the abuse from a “psychic medium.”⁸

Chief Deputy District Attorney Peg Samples opposed the reduction, citing Hillson’s confessions to police about sex crimes involving multiple children. Responding to character witnesses who described Hillson as honest and intelligent, Samples argued that a person of such character who was actually innocent would have denied the accusations outright, and Hillson had never done so. Samples also said the daughter had long struggled to come forward because she feared it would divide her family.⁹

Hillson has remained in the Washoe County jail since her arrest. As of June 2026, no trial date had been set.⁷

Her Job at Roy Gomm Elementary

Hillson worked at Roy Gomm Elementary School in Reno from 2022 until June 2025, shortly before her arrest.⁹ The Washoe County School District described her as a “former district substitute employee,” though some news coverage referred to her as a physical education teacher.²

The district said the criminal allegations are not connected to Roy Gomm Elementary or its students, and law enforcement said it had no information suggesting any children at the school were victimized. The district said it was “deeply concerned by the allegations” and noted that all prospective employees must pass criminal background checks before hiring.³

Background

Before her arrest, Hillson held a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Carolina University and lived in Reno with her husband and two children. In 2015 she published a memoir, Katie and Me: Triumph over Tragedy, through Balboa Press, about her family’s experience after her daughter Katie suffered a skiing injury in 2006.¹⁰ That daughter is the same person who later came forward as the primary accuser in the criminal case.

1
Reno Gazette Journal. Reno Teacher Taji Hillson Child Sex Abuse Case
2
KOLO-TV. Police Arrest, Charge Former Reno Substitute Employee With Child Sexual Assault
3
MyNews4. Judge Reduces Bail for Former Reno Teacher Accused in Child Sexual Assault Case
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KOLO-TV. Family Member Details Years-Long Sex Assaults Allegedly Committed by Ex-WCSD Substitute Teacher
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Washoe County District Attorney. DA Chris Hicks Announces Charges Filed in Case Involving Local Teacher
6
Justia. NRS 200.366 – Sexual Assault
7
Reno Gazette Journal. Ex-Gomm Elementary Teacher Denies Child Sex Crime Charges
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This Is Reno. Bail Reduction Taji Hillson
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Reno Gazette Journal. Bail Reduced to $4M for Former Gomm Teacher Taji Hillson
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Balboa Press. Katie and Me: Triumph Over Tragedy