Despite a plea bargain that had prosecutors willing to accept a relatively short term in the county jail, a former Jordan High School teacher is heading to prison for molesting three boys.
Jason Steadman, 26, was sentenced Friday by 3rd District Judge Michael Hutchings to up to five years in the Utah State Prison on three third-degree felonies. The charges were originally second-degree felonies. He pleaded guilty to the reduced charges in March.Steadman, who had taught Spanish and physical education at the high school, admitted fondling two students, ages 16 and 17, on separate occasions, as well as a 10-year-old boy. In court he said there had been a total of 10 victims.
In court Friday, in a quiet voice, he apologized repeatedly to his victims, their families and his own family.
"I won't beg your forgiveness, because it's not my right," he said, facing two of the victims' families who appeared in court. "You gave me nothing but friendship and trust, and I betrayed that."
Prosecutors had indicated they would not seek prison time, but would go along with a sentence of 120 days in the Salt Lake County Jail along with probation and counseling for sex offenders.
But Hutchings said this type of case forces judges to balance many factors discussed in the courtroom that day: the need for punishment, the need to rehabilitate an individual offender, the needs of these victims, the need to protect any potential future victims and the needs of society.
"One of the problems in a case like this is that there is no way of making restitution. An apology, I think, is important," Hutchings said.
But the court cannot overlook the trauma to victims and their families, the "confusion placed in the minds of young people" and the fact that there can never be any real restitution, the judge said.
"There's no way of totally making it right," Hutchings said. "The damage done is unacceptable, and it cannot be countenanced."
The sentence came as a shock to many in the courtroom and Steadman was visibly pale as the judge told him his sentence would begin Monday.
Steadman could have received 15 years in prison, but all the previous courtroom discussion had centered around short jail terms, probation, counseling and similar issues far less severe than prison.
Steadman enrolled in an intensive therapy program for sexual abusers as soon as he entered the plea bargain, said his attorney Steven Tycksen. Steadman did so because he wanted to face up to a sickness born of an addiction to pornography that began in childhood and a homosexual relationship with an adult that occurred when he was a child, Tycksen said.
"No one is minimizing the seriousness of this," Tycksen said. But instead of sitting in a cell, what Steadman needs is intensive therapy by professionals, his lawyer said.
Tycksen recommended home confinement in Steadman's parents' home with an electronic bracelet that permitted only excursions to work alongside his father, church attendance and therapy sessions.
A doctor recommended in a letter that a six-month jail term would be appropriate, as did the state's probation department in its investigation.
Even one of the boy's fathers speaking outside the courtroom during a break in the court proceedings said that his family favored jail, probation and counseling rather than prison.
But another father voiced a different opinion in court before the sentence was imposed.
"I know the Steadman family wrote letters, and I'm sure they created him to be this golden boy with a shining star around his head. I want to make sure this court does not forget those two boys - right there," the man said, pointing to his son and another boy, " are the victims."
The father said the boys have been humiliated at school and accused of lying by many of their friends who are still loyal to the popular teacher.
"The man is a predator," the father said. "If all he gets is a slap on the wrist, I won't think justice was done."