Robert Wayne Larsen says he tried to teach children responsibility while working with them at Salt Lake's annual Dickens Christmas Festival.

But Friday, it was his turn to take responsibility -- for sexually abusing at least seven children, some of whom he met at the festival."I want to say how sorry I am to the victims of my crimes," he said during a 3rd District Court trial. "I want to tell them they did nothing wrong. I did it."

Following the admission, Judge Robin Reese sentenced Larsen to spend up to 15 years in the Utah State Prison. Reese also ordered Larsen to pay for counseling for each of his victims and to report to the prison Monday at 5 p.m.

Larsen, 33, had pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and five counts of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor.

Overall, the charges encompassed seven victims and at least two separate incidents. During both incidents, Larsen performed sex acts in front of the children, ages 9 and 10. Larsen also fondled some of the children, according to prosecutors.

In a pre-sentence report, Larsen admitted that there are more victims than those included by the charges and that his actions were "worse than what we actually charged him with," said Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney James Cope.

But prosecutors allowed Larsen to plead guilty to only two cases involving two boys to spare the victims from having to testify.

While defense attorney Earl Xaiz asked Reese to give Larsen a sentence that would balance punishment and rehabilitation, Cope pointed out that Larsen has already had a chance.

In 1994, Larsen pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lewdness involving a child. Court records show that he completed 36 months of probation and a sex offender treatment program.

But that treatment failed to diagnose that he had a bipolar disorder, and therefore Larsen lacked "all the tools necessary to change his behavior," Xaiz said. Since being diagnosed this year, Larsen has been taking medication and is "more capable of taking control of his actions now."

Still, Larsen "almost defied common knowledge and intelligence" by putting himself in such proximity to children while aware of his past history, said Cope, recommending that Larsen serve time in prison.

The father of a 9-year-old boy, one of Larsen's victims, also asked Reese to send Larsen to prison to prevent him from abusing other children.

"To his credit, he's a very good actor," the father said. "I don't know if his regret here is sincere or not. I would hope that it is."

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As an actor, Larsen has coached many children through rehearsals and helped with on-stage productions of the annual Dickens Festival that have been directed by his parents. Last year he played the role of Fagan in a production of "Oliver."

"In relation to these young kids, working with them I encouraged responsibility, that they should take responsibility for what they are doing," Larsen told Reese during the hearing. "And now, your honor, it is my turn (to take responsibility)."

As he walked out of the courtroom, Larsen exchanged hugs with several young teenagers who had attended the hearing. Some of the youths later tried to block TV cameramen trying to tape Larsen walking out of the courthouse.

"I feel like I've taken responsibility, and that's what these kids (the victims) needed," Larsen said on his way out. "They needed to put a close to this."

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