VERNAL -- A former English teacher has been sentenced to six months in jail for sexually abusing a 12-year-old child in his home.
Seventh District Judge Lynn Payne suspended a one-to-15-year prison sentence for Jay Vanwagoner, 69, and will review the six-month jail term in 45 days.The judge said Tuesday he had never received so many letters in support of anyone who had come to his court before as a defendant in a criminal case.
But the prosecutor pointed out that there wasn't a single letter of recommendation for leniency from parents of an abused child.
The victim who finally brought Vanwagoner's actions to light last year is still suffering, said Uintah County Deputy Attorney Ken Wallentine.
"His psychologist has reported there is substantial and long lasting psychological damage done to this young man," he stated. The boy and his family have since moved from the area.
Prosecutors wanted a year in jail for Vanwagoner, who pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony count of forcible sexual abuse of a child. His attorney said Vanwagoner didn't need jail time, or inpatient therapy, because he has been in counseling, which included sex offender treatment.
Upon completion of his sentence, Vanwagoner could be released into an inpatient treatment facility for sex offenders. He was also ordered to pay for the counseling costs his victim has incurred, pay a $1,250 fine, register as a sex offender, submit to DNA testing and have no unsupervised contact with boys under 18 years of age.
Investigators said it was Vanwagoner's position as a respected educator and youth teacher in the LDS Church that made it easy for him to manipulate some of the young boys he taught.
Prosecutors maintained Vanwagoner had more than one victim.
The victim was 12 years old when the nearly two years of abuse began in September 1994. Most of the sex acts occurred at Vanwagoner's home, according to police.
Investigators found 30 journals containing "sex fantasy writings," by Vanwagoner.
Prior to sentencing, Vanwagoner asked the judge not to "cause me to go to jail" and told the court he was the one molested.
"I was there and suddenly I was a boy and he was a man," he said.
Judge Payne instructed Vanwagoner that he was never to say he was the victim in the crime.
Vanwagoner's guilty plea to the charge against him in Uintah County will satisfy similar cases pending against him in Oregon and Idaho, said Wallentine, adding that the defendant's age and health problems made investigators unwilling to spend time prosecuting the retired schoolteacher.
Vanwagoner retired after the 1997-98 school year, before the charges were brought. He had worked for the Uintah School District for 15 years.