Rape sentence handed down: minimum 5 years

Stock Image | St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY – A 5th District judge sentenced a Cedar City man to a minimum of five years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting a female victim multiple times over a number of years.

John Gregory Adams, of Cedar City, Utah, booking photo posted June 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

Judge Keith Barnes sentenced John Gregory Adams, 33, to a minimum of five years in the Utah State Prison for one count of rape, a third-degree felony. However, Adams may receive credit for time already served. Following his release, Adams will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Adams was arrested in June 2016 for three counts of first-degree felony rape. He was later charged with one additional first-degree felony for sexual abuse of a child and two counts of lewdness involving a child, both third-degree felonies.

Adams pleaded guilty to the one count of rape in December. The additional charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. The sexual abuse of a child and lewdness charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Adams has been held in the Iron County Correctional Facility since his arrest.

During his sentencing, he expressed remorse to Barnes for the multiple sexual assaults, stating he believes the time in jail has helped him find God.

“I feel sorrow for my actions. I feel no ill will or resentment toward (the victim),” Adams said in an emotional plea to the court.

The victim, while present during the sentencing, declined to speak. Deputy Iron County Attorney Troy Little, however, argued that while Adams’ acceptance of this crime is important, it’s not enough.

“There’s no winners in cases like this,” Little said. “There are certain crimes where justice requires some punitive measures.”

William Leigh, Adams’ attorney, told the court his client had no previous criminal history. Leigh also pointed to the presentence report from Adult Probation and Parole that determined they believed there was little possibility of a repeat offense.

Barnes agreed with Little, however, opting to sentence Adams to the recommended sentence established by Adult Probation and Parole.

“This is a very serious crime where only prison makes sense,” Barnes said.

According to the charging documents filed in 5th District Court, Adams was arrested after an adult female told Cedar City Police she had been the victim of repeated rapes occurring “about once a week,” over a number of years in different locations.

The victim provided investigators with a list detailing each assault. The list was a confession written by Adams, which the defendant later admitted to police that he wrote.

The second set of charges were filed less than month after his arrest. Adams allegedly admitted to viewing child pornography but denied the accusations put forward by the victims, court documents state.

However, the court record states that investigators later discovered text messages where Adams discussed one of the alleged incidents and said he “felt sick about it.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @tracie_sullivan

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.