Youth centre worker accused of allowing choking game

Tuakimoana Leota was charged with two counts of felony child abuse. Photo / Supplied

Utah authorities have arrested youth treatment facility employee after deputies say he allegedly allowed residents to choke each other as part of a game.

Authorities say 20-year-old Tuakimoana Leota was charged on Tuesday (US time) with two counts of felony child abuse.

Prosecutors say Sanpete County sheriff's deputies were called to Oxbow Academy East last Friday after a 16-year-old boy was choked until he was unconscious.

Oxbow Academy describes itself as a treatment centre for boys struggling with sexual issues.

Prosecutors accuse Leota of looking on as two residents choked each other as part of a game called "Cloud 9" or the "choking game".

Police say that Leota admitted that he watched two boys, including the 16-year-old who was hospitalised, be choked until they passed out.

When the second boy could not stand and his eyes were rolling back in their sockets, Leota said they concocted a story about how the youth had fallen down the stairs and he was taken to the hospital. He eventually told other staff about the "choking game", according to police.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Leota who could comment on the allegations.

Oxbow Academy executives say they are cooperating with police and state licensing officials and that Leota was fired.

- AP