A former S.L. taxi driver convicted of sexually abusing a handicapped boy was sentenced to a minimum of five years in Utah State Prison.
Eugene C. Reiners, 68, appeared last week before 3rd District Judge Homer Wilkinson, who ordered Reiners to report to prison Monday morning.Reiners was found guilty in March of sexually abusing and sodomizing a 4-year-old boy who was on one of Reiners' taxi routes that included a school for the blind.
According to the boy's testimony, Reiners said he was Santa Claus and took children to the "North Pole" where they engaged in sex games.
Reiners once was allowed to plead guilty to a third-degree felony count of sexual abuse of a child, for which he would face zero to five years in prison. But he withdrew his plea and went to trial on four first-degree felony charges.
He was found guilty and now must serve a minimum of five years before being considered for parole, said deputy Salt Lake County attorney Tom Vuyk.