Pull Up the Roots
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Utah’s Senate president prompted law change that helped a teen charged with child rape
An 18-year-old high schooler was facing potential prison time and having to register as a sex offender until help came from a powerful ally — Senate President J. Stuart Adams.
Last year, an 18-year-old Utahn was staring at the potential of years in prison, accused of having sex with a 13-year-old.
Plea bargain negotiations were at an impasse. Then the Utah Legislature — based on an initial suggestion from Senate President J. Stuart Adams — changed the law.
Two months later, prosecutors offered the 18-year-old, who is related to Adams, a plea deal. The teen would plead guilty to reduced charges, face no additional jail time beyond a week already served, and would not have to register as a sex offender.
The new law was not made retroactive, and the teenager was not charged with the new lower-level crime it created. But in court hearings, the judge, the prosecutor and defense attorney Cara Tangaro — who helped draft the bill language that was adopted by the Legislature — all acknowledged it was pivotal to resolving the charges against the 18-year-old.
“You saw the legislative change,” Tangaro told Judge Rita Cornish at sentencing. “We all agree that’s not retroactive, but the government did change their offer based on that.”
In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, Adams said the case stemmed from “a serious mistake,” but he was “surprised by the severity of the charges” that were initially filed. The original charges were two counts of child rape and two counts of child sodomy, all first-degree felonies, carrying the possibility of 25 years to life in prison and a requirement to register as a sex offender.
The Layton Republican emphasized that the new law was not retroactive and said he did not intend for it to impact the case; his intent was to help future students.
“Some have suggested this change was made to benefit the case I was made aware of involving the high school senior. That is simply not true,” he said. “While the sponsor of [the bill] was aware of the case, I did not request the legislation and did not intervene or give input on the drafting of the bill.”
The mother of the junior high school victim said in an interview with The Tribune that she was shocked to learn about the change to the law. “It was out of nowhere,” she said. “I felt like I was punched in the gut.”
She believes her child was an afterthought in both the legislative debate and the handling of the criminal case.
“I feel like a law is the law, regardless of who you are, but that wasn’t what was going on here,” she said. “I feel like [the 18-year-old] just got special treatment …and nobody was going to say anything about it.”

I'm not surprised... Priests Politicians and lawmakers protect these pedos...