Update on temple movie director child abuse cases

[bsjkki]

I looked back on the original mention of child abuse by Sterling Van Wagenen. It was due to an old allegation and a taped recording. 

“Van Wagenen resigned from the University of Utah earlier this year after an allegation that he abused a 13-year-old boy in 1993 surfaced. The alleged victim recorded Van Wagenen confessing and apologizing for touching him over his clothes, but the victim said the touching happened underneath his clothes. Van Wagenen was never charged in that case.

"That's the difficult aspect of sexual abuse, is it can occur over decades," said Utah County Attorney David Leavitt. "It can go undetected over decades. And it very often includes more victims than the victim that came forward." https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900068295/sundance-utah-co-founder-admits-to-sexually-abusing-girl.html

Today he was confessed to more recent allegations and he pled guilty. 

“Van Wagenen touched the child inappropriately between 2013 and 2015 when she was 7 to 9 years old, court documents show. He is charged in a second incident in Salt Lake County, where prosecutors say the same girl, a relative of his, had told her parents he touched her inappropriately while she sat on his lap on a stairway to her family's basement.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Utah County prosecutors have agreed to seek a sentence of at least six years and up to life in prison. Van Wagenen will likely plead guilty to a twin charge in Salt Lake City, Shapiro said, where the state will probably pursue a similar sentence and ask a judge to have the sentence run concurrent or at the same time as the other charge.”

Also in the Tribune story.

”Tuesday’s plea was a surprise, given that it came in Van Wagenen’s first court appearance, and there was no hint of it on the docket. Shapiro explained to 4th District Judge Roger W. Griffin that he and prosecutors had been negotiating a resolution even before the charges were filed.” https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/04/30/sterling-vanwagenen/

Edited April 30, 2019 by bsjkki

[strappinglad]

35 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

In exchange for his guilty plea, Utah County prosecutors have agreed to seek a sentence of at least six years and up to life in prison.

Remind me not to use whoever bargained for his side. 😱

[Robert F. Smith]

On 4/30/2019 at 3:46 PM, strappinglad said:

Remind me not to use whoever bargained for his side. 😱

Our Elders Quorum lesson last Sunday was on repentance.  Perhaps something like that was on Van Wagenen's mind as he contemplated his misdeeds.  If so, it is a first good step to make a complete admission.  Not enough, but still a good first step.

ETA.  Van Wagenen was just sentenced to 6 years to life.  He is 72 years of age.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Robert F. Smith

[JulieM]

From the New York Times:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/arts/sundance-founder-abuse-arrest.amp.html

[bsjkki]

26 minutes ago, JulieM said:

From the New York Times:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/arts/sundance-founder-abuse-arrest.amp.html

Saddest part for me. 

“As an adult, he said, he is compulsively protective of his children. He will not allow them to be alone with other men. He said that when his children were assigned male teachers, he demanded they be moved to different classes. When they had play dates, he called ahead to make sure a woman would be present at all times. After decades as a “rock-solid” Mormon, he said, he left the church last year.”

[Robert F. Smith]

37 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

Saddest part for me. 

“As an adult, he said, he is compulsively protective of his children. He will not allow them to be alone with other men. He said that when his children were assigned male teachers, he demanded they be moved to different classes. When they had play dates, he called ahead to make sure a woman would be present at all times. After decades as a “rock-solid” Mormon, he said, he left the church last year.”

Self-excommunication.

[Calm]

1 hour ago, bsjkki said:

Saddest part for me. 

“As an adult, he said, he is compulsively protective of his children. He will not allow them to be alone with other men. He said that when his children were assigned male teachers, he demanded they be moved to different classes. When they had play dates, he called ahead to make sure a woman would be present at all times. After decades as a “rock-solid” Mormon, he said, he left the church last year.”

Just to be clear, this is the victim.  I read it as the abuser and was thinking he was imagining other men as abusers like himself and protecting his own children and rolling my eyes that he should think himself rock solid while breaking his covenants so horribly.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Calm

[bsjkki]

11 minutes ago, Calm said:

Just to be clear, this is the victim.  I read it as the abuser and was thinking he was imagining other men as abusers like himself and protecting his own children and rolling my eyes that he should think himself rock solid while breaking his covenants so horribly.

Thanks for clarifying! Yes, that is the victim speaking who obviously was deeply traumatized by the abuse.

[Calm]

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900077920/sundance-co-founder-sterling-van-wagenen-utah-sentencing.html

I got the impression the DN reporter did not care for Van Wagenen, given the placement and context created a "he's full of it" vibe for me, emphasizing the girl calling him a coward for not coming forward while denying the charge when confronted by the mother contrasted with his lawyer saying he was accepting responsibility by telling the lawyer he wanted to confess to the charge before the investigation was finished.

And then putting up the plea deal info which makes it easy to infer he only confess to get a better plea.  And throwing the info about him being abused as a child being dismissed by the judge so it came across as more excuse than explanation.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Calm

[Kenngo1969]

On 4/30/2019 at 3:46 PM, strappinglad said:

Remind me not to use whoever bargained for his side. 😱

I know everybody scoffs at the notion of legal "ethics," but, although lawyers are bound to a. represent their clients zealously, they are also bound to b. adhere to the client's wishes, provided those wishes do not enmesh the lawyer in illegal or unethical conduct.  And judges are supposed to conduct colloquys with defendants who plead guilty to ensure that the plea is freely and voluntarily made, the person entering the plea fully understands and accepts the consequences, and so forth.