A Highland man has received a suspended prison sentence of zero to five years for sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy April 20 in American Fork Canyon.
Fourth District Court Judge Cullen Y. Christensen placed Paul A. Christmas, 18, on probation for 18 months and ordered him to undergo a sexual-offenders program at the Bonneville Community Correctional Center in Salt Lake City. He also fined Christmas $1,250.Christmas could have received a prison term of up to 15 years for child sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. Christensen, however, granted a defense motion to sentence him under the next lower category, a third-degree felony, which carries a maximum five years in prison.
In exchange for his guilty plea in June, the Utah County attorney's office agreed not to file additional related charges or to oppose the motion to have Christmas sentenced for a third-degree felony.