A volunteer at a Sandy church pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of molesting a boy he befriended through church activities.
Scott E. Ullery, 35, entered the guilty plea to one count of child sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two additional counts against him.Police said Ullery organized sporting events for children in third through sixth grades who worshiped at Hilltop United Methodist Church. He also coached a Little League baseball team in Taylorsville for boys 9 to 12.
Last June, Ullery took an 11-year-old boy to a house in Sandy, got into a hot tub with the youngster and fondled him, according to the charges filed in 3rd Circuit Court. He also was accused of fondling a 7-year-old while in the hot tub and at a movie theater last year.
Under the plea arrangement, a judge could sentence the man to up to 15 years in prison, which is exactly what the mothers of both boys want. Sentencing is set for June 12.
"Nothing they could do is enough. We'll have to live with a maximum sentence," one of the mothers said after the court hearing Monday.
She said Ullery was well-liked in the church and trusted. "We're all single mothers, and we counted on him . . . we trusted him," she said.
The mother said both boys were undergoing therapy and still wrestling with emotional and psychological trauma.