Note: update below story with investigator’s findings.
While a narrow Washoe County investigation has started into the controversial conduct of Karma Box executive director Grant Denton, more ex-girlfriends, former colleagues and supervisors are coming forward with new allegations of what they call predatory behavior in multiple relationships and in work environments.
We’ve also found out there’s been recent change in terms of work which had been previously delegated to Karma Box, the River Stewards program, now passed on to another nonprofit active in helping the unhoused, RISE.
Those speaking out recently against Denton want him kept away from all work in recovery and homelessness spaces, including the Cares Campus safe camp where he is still contracted by the County.
In terms of the River Stewards, some of the statements made related to the current investigation and interviews we did previously with the unhoused indicated there were concerns as to who was chosen by Denton to do the river cleanups, and how people were paid.
“The River Stewards Program has not been active for several years until funding was recently provided to RISE this spring,” Kara Steeland from the Truckee Meadows Water Authority wrote to us. “I believe Karma Box did not have the capacity to apply for funding or manage the program any longer. Under Karma Box, there was a gift card system in place to incentivize people to help clean up along the river. RISE will hire individuals on a contract basis who will work as River Stewards and be paid a living wage.”
The county investigation concerning Denton was started after a former girlfriend made public allegations against him at a county meeting on May 28th that he preyed on women in recovery workout programs. At the same public forum, an advocate for women and the unhoused read a statement on behalf of John Opalinski, a staff member with Bristlecone Family Resources and a board member of Reps 4 Recovery, also denouncing Denton for alleged misconduct.
It was then announced a county investigation would be carried out.
In one email shown to Our Town Reno, Mary Kandaras, the Chief Deputy District Attorney, wrote the investigation would “focus primarily” on the county’s contract with Karma Box to run the safe camp.
County Manager Eric Brown then indicated in a May 31st email that an independent investigator had been brought in “to investigate Grant Denton’s interactions with Safe Camp clients. Grant has agreed to not come to the Safe Camp while the investigation is being conducted,” he wrote, saying this matter would be resolved “in a swift and fair manner.”
The latest 990 Karma Box Project form we could find was from 2022, indicating $82,300 in compensation for Denton. Last year, Denton already garnered negative media attention for not filing required tax forms to the IRS and losing nonprofit status temporarily.
At that time, County Commissioner Mike Clark said he had previous discussions with county management about Denton, concerned as to how the contract could be continued under those circumstances.
“Why are we doing business with somebody who for the lack of a better word is not officially licensed? That would be like the county hiring a plumber who wasn't licensed,” he said.
Clark says he’s been receiving new statements against Denton daily, even hourly. “I’ve asked for a fair, independent investigation,” he said. “I don't know if anybody's guilty of anything but I think we need to look a little bit wider than just what was taking place at the Cares Campus.”
New allegations range from threatening, demeaning and bullying behavior with the people he deals with personally and at work, especially women, in several positions he’s held since arriving in Reno, to being told of a sexual assault allegedly committed by Denton.
We emailed Denton Friday about the accusations in the new statements we were cced on, but have yet to receive a response. In previous correspondence with Our Town Reno related to the initial accusations, he said he wasn’t a “perfect man,” but denied any wrongdoing. In an interview with This is Reno, he called the multiplying accusations a “f****** witch hunt”, adding an expletive to a phrase often used by former President Donald Trump.
One former girlfriend and supervisor of Denton’s Stacey Payne is also disappointed the investigation won’t have a bigger scope, but now that she’s made a statement released to media and elected officials, she says she’s resolute in making sure Denton never works in recovery and homelessness spaces again.
“He’s like a volcano always about to erupt. He’s used steroids for years and admits to it,” she said, alleging he was getting these on the internet without a prescription. Side effects of long term steroid use can include irritability and aggression.
In the This is Reno article, Denton, who is in his mid 40s, admitted to partaking in testosterone replacement therapy, which he indicated was a common treatment for middle aged men in recovery with low testosterone.
Payne feels responsible as she says Denton followed her to Reno, where she says she introduced him to many people.
She says she first met Denton in Las Vegas ten years ago, through a men’s in-patient program where she spoke on behalf of the recovery homes she ran called BlueCove Homes.
Denton, who had an abusive childhood and then veered into drug addiction as an adult in Las Vegas and repeated legal problems, including for domestic battery, went to live in one of these recovery homes, became a certified personal trainer and then Payne’s boyfriend.
When Payne started the LYFE Recovery sober living home company in northern Nevada in 2016, she says Denton soon came to visit with his two boys.
“I introduced him around to everyone I had been meeting in the recovery community,” Payne wrote. “He started out on his best behavior, but soon, the deception, the females, the lies, the yelling, the threatening, all came right back into my life. July 2017 was the last time I asked him to leave my home and shut the door.”
Despite the definitive breakup, Denton decided to remain in Reno, where he’s since been celebrated by local politicians, media and officials as a hero to help the unhoused, through his Karma Box donation locations, his energetic social media presence and public talks and subsequent outreach efforts and paid positions.
Meanwhile, advocates for the unhoused and several women who have worked alongside him or dated him paint an entirely different picture.
Payne says she used to cling on to hope Denton would become a “better man,” but now feels “a tremendous sadness for all who have suffered, and an anger that he has been able to fool so many… I had so hoped and prayed that during Grant's meteoric rise here in Reno, in the recovery community, that he had found his OWN recovery…That he had finally found some peace from his demons....but in my soul I know now, after hearing the latest accusations, that has not happened.”
In a follow up phone interview with Our Town Reno, Payne said she regretted not writing a statement sooner. Now, she says, she won’t hold back whatever the investigation concludes, with a civil suit as another possible future path.
Payne said in the recovery and homelessness spaces, there is a high correlation with past sexual abuse and that for successful programs it’s not just about having shelter or not using substances anymore, but being “in a safe place with mentors around you that have been through it, that have come through their own traumas and are on the winning side of life again. That you have a predator in the midst of a vulnerable population … it absolutely cannot happen,” she concluded.
Others who sent statements and messaged with Our Town Reno wanted to stay anonymous, for fear of reprisals.
A former coworker in the recovery sector said multiple clients reported Denton as being “emotionally abusive,” forcing himself into “coercive” relationships early into their recovery process.
Several people who have spoken out say they’ve been told repeatedly not to do so by supervisors and others in local government positions, and fear there is internal pressure going on during the current investigation for employees and Safe Camp clients to stay silent.
The ex-girlfriend received a cease and desist letter, while an advocate for the unhoused who has had repeated run-ins with Denton alleges a board member for the Karma Box told her to “keep her mouth shut,” during a phone call, after she made allegations against Denton to others and on social media accusing him of being verbally abusive towards volunteers and the unhoused right outside the Cares Campus.
Other local women who’ve encountered him in support spaces have been writing each other, and commenting on different posts about their own recollections. One wrote of coming across Denton: “He was all pushy bro energy prison shtick. I assumed others would sniff out his ICK; instead he inserted himself in a seat of power.” Another wrote: “I’m another person here that’s been saying all this for years. And I was attacked and shamed by Karma Box and all affiliates.”
A former supervisor who released a statement to elected officials and local media wondered why his recovery workout programs focused on women and not men, insisting on the importance of working with one’s own gender in the recovery space.
“This practice protects very vulnerable people, newly in recovery, from exploitation of their vulnerability,” she wrote in her email, which also included a recollection of being told of an alleged sexual assault.
“I also learned that one of my female staff members at that agency (and later at another agency) reported that Grant threw her against her car in the parking lot and forcibly kissed her. She was very upset and angry at him for assaulting her without any process of consent... Sadly, she was not the only one who came to me with allegations about his sexual advances and feared his presence,” the statement read.
We included this allegation in the email to Denton to which he did not respond.
The former supervisor also grew concerned that Denton was working with women and not men for a local jail recovery program, worries that then grew as Denton’s local role and stature in helping the unhoused kept growing.
“Most have been afraid to come forward,” she wrote of her own ambivalence in sending out her statement. “I too, have felt the sting from speaking out in the past and have been silenced and driven to work behind the scenes to avoid political ugliness and exclusion.”
After Denton started Karma Box, which did outreach during the pandemic, when there were several big encampments around Reno, she says “reports of bullying and rageful behavior began to surface among the community at the Wells encampment in 2020. I … learned that the camp came together to form a petition to ask that Karma Box not be allowed to do outreach in the Wells encampment due to creating hostile relationships with people living there. I was vocal about this with Dana Searcy, Catrina Peters, and Alexis Hill (who was running for office at the time).”
We reached out to the three and Washoe County communications director Bethany Drysdale, who gave the sole response to our query. “This incident happened quite some time ago, and Washoe County investigated it as we investigate all complaints against personnel,” Drysdale wrote back. “It was investigated and resolved at that time. Washoe County doesn’t have legal authority over contractors' personal relationships. There are other legal mechanisms for people who allege harm. By its terms, the Code of Conduct applies to contractors when they are representing Washoe County.”
There have also been recent changes at the county level in terms of who works with the safe camp, with Elizabeth Pope (above) recently moving away from the Cares Campus to replace Kim Schweickert as county coordinator for the Our Place shelter for women and families, which prompted another response.
“Kim is the coordinator over case management at the Cares Campus. Elizabeth Pope is currently coordinating Our Place. Elizabeth did not manage Safe Camp. Staff in the county and HSA often have the opportunity to experience multiple programs. Staff often move within programs to meet the needs of the agency and its clients,” Drysdale wrote back.
“What does that mean?” Commissioner Clark responded as he was also cced. “Sorry to be obtuse but I’m not understanding do employees at the Cares Campus change positions randomly to experience programs? Do titles change? Pay changes?”
Ryan Gustafson, listed as the Director of the county’s Human Services Agency, then stepped into the email thread writing “in regards to your question, employees at WCHSA and the County move around pretty regularly. It’s for program experience as well as for the agency needs. Titles can change, which could impact pay, but that’s not always the case (transfers for example). In this case, there was not a title/pay change.”
Commissioner Clark has been trying to get clearer financial breakdowns on the Cares Campus and safe camp for years as well.
"I am upset with the total lack of transparency. Somebody at the county has the definition of transparency and camouflage confused,” he told us during our recent phone interview.
Whatever the outcome of the investigation is, or the future of the safe camp or the Cares Campus, Payne, who says she’s not a victim, concluded our phone conversation by saying: “I’m not going to be silenced. It’s important that Grant Denton does not have any credibility in the recovery field ever again. I think that it is the government's responsibility to now listen to all of the victims that are willing to come forward.”
Our Town Reno reporting, June 2024
Update: An email forwarded to us had this from Mary Kandaras, Chief Deputy District Attorney, related to multiple accusations of misconduct toward vulnerable women by Karma Box Project executive director Grant Denton:
"Based on the allegations made in public comment, Washoe County hired Sandra Ketner, Esq. to conduct an independent investigation and determine whether these allegations were related to his Karma Box work, particularly at the Safe Camp.
The investigation was limited to ensuring the safety of persons served by the Safe Camp.
Sandra Ketner spoke with participants and employees and found no inappropriate sexual conduct or harassment by Grant Denton.
According to the investigator,
[T]here was no corroborating evidence to support allegations of sexual misconduct by Denton with respect to Safe Camp participants or otherwise on campus. Likewise, there was no evidence to substantiate allegations of derogatory, threatening, or violent conduct by Denton with Safe Camp participants or otherwise on campus. While some witnesses reported that Denton can be hard on and tough with participants (especially when the participants violated the rules), no one reported that Denton crossed the line or acted in a way that violated the Code of Conduct. Moreover, no one reported any credible evidence related to others who may have been threatened, abused, manipulated or taken advantage of by Denton. To the contrary, nearly all witness accounts described Denton as being respectful and professional with Safe Camp participants. Thus, the preponderance of the evidence reflects that Denton’s alleged conduct described by [Witnesses] has not occurred or has not been witnessed or reported at Safe Camp.
Washoe County Management does not have authority to investigate allegations of Grant Denton outside of his role as a contractor. Accordingly, the allegations against him were not discounted, but instead resulted in an investigation of his contracted work to manage the Safe Camp for Washoe County."