Family and friends of Cory Larsen were in shock Thursday after the West Valley City music teacher was found guilty of sexually abusing two of his students.
A jury of one man and seven women needed less than 45 minutes to convict Larsen, 30, of two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony."There's really no victory in this," said prosecutor Susan Hunt. "(The victims) never expressed wanting anything bad to happen. They were both very emotional about the verdict and I think part of that was feeling sorry for Cory."
Larsen faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced by 3rd District Judge Sheila McCleve Sept. 27.
Larsen was flanked by more than 20 family members and friends throughout the two-day trial that started Wednesday. After the verdict, with Larsen and his wife both sobbing, some of Larsen's supporters flashed icy glares toward the two victims and their families.
The victims and their families declined comment outside the courtroom.
Several of Larsen's supporters became upset when the bailiff asked them to leave the courtroom as they were hugging and offering their condolences to Larsen and his wife.
"I just don't understand how it got to the point it did in the first place," said George Trujillo, whose family has lived across the street from Larsen for five years.
Trujillo's two children have taken voice and piano lessons from Larsen for more than two years without a problem, Trujillo said.
"Today's decision is just a huge slap in the face to work with young men," Trujillo said.
During the trial, both boys, 14 and 15 at the time of the abuse, testified Larsen touched their genitals during weekly voice lessons at Larsen's home, 4336 W. Cortney Drive (2925 South).
One boy took several lessons from Larsen during the summer months of 1997. The other quit after two lessons in September 1998.
Both said Larsen told them to lie down on the floor, and then put his hands near their genitals, telling the boys he was looking for air pockets to help them in breathing.
One of the boys said Larsen told him to pull his pants down and left the boy's genitals exposed for more than four minutes.
Larsen did not testify, but defense attorney Troy Rawlings brought in JoAnn Ottley, private voice teacher and vocal coach of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as an expert witness.
Ottley testified she also has students lay on the floor to improve breathing, but said she never touches them near the pelvic bone.
"I wouldn't want, at any moment, to have anything that I do misconstrued," Ottley said.
Ottley said any teacher touching a student in that area would be "an error in judgment."
Hunt said Ottley's testimony helped the prosecution's case as much as the defense, but concluded it was the boys' accounts that ultimately led to the guilty verdict.
"Their testimony was so compelling," Hunt said. "They're very credible. What they described was so beyond any legitimate teaching technique."
Larsen was not taken into custody and will remain with his family until his sentencing. Rawlings said he will ask that his client not be sent to prison.
"He's very distraught right now," Rawlings said outside the courtroom. "We'll be surprised if there's incarceration in his case."