PARK CITY — No matter what punishment Paul Wayment may receive in court, his family says it won't compare with the lifelong sentence of living without his son, Gage.
On Wednesday, the 37-year-old father of the boy who was the focus of a weeklong search in October in the mountains above Coalville was charged by the Summit County Attorney's Office with negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail if he is convicted.
But Valerie Burke, Wayment's sister acting as the family spokeswoman, said her brother is already serving his sentence.
"He's lost the most important thing in his whole life," Burke said. "The charges are small in comparison. He can't hurt anymore than he's already hurting."
The charge comes more than one month after the body of 2-year-old Gage Wayment was found by a searcher who had become lost himself.
Summit County attorney Robert Adkins interviewed more than 25 witnesses before filing the charge.
Prosecutors considered whether to charge Wayment with the misdemeanor or child abuse homicide, a felony, or nothing.
Wayment's family, Burke said, is disappointed Paul was charged but it is "not a total shock or surprise." They also feel a weight has been lifted off them now that they have an idea of what is going to happen, she said.
The search for Gage began Oct. 26 after Paul took his son to the South Fork area of Chalk Creek in Summit County.
Wayment left Gage in his car seat to take a nap while he went to scout for deer. When Wayment returned to the truck about a half-hour later, his son was gone.
Wayment later told a Summit County sheriff's deputy he "had a bad feeling" as he walked back to his truck, according to documents filed in court.
Wayment also told the deputy to "shoot him," court documents stated. When the deputy asked why, Wayment responded, "I should have never left him in the truck, I should have never done that. That is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life, and I should be skinned and shot for that," court documents stated.
Wayment also admitted he had brought Gage to the area on a prior occasion and left him asleep in the truck, court documents stated.
On Oct. 31, James Wilkes found Gage's body while searching for him in a snowstorm. An autopsy determined Gage died of hypothermia.
Paul Wayment is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 9.
Burke said it will be very hard on the entire family to go through Christmas without Gage.
Since Gage's funeral, Burke said she has received calls from people from all over Utah who have stories about when they left their own children alone and how they understand what her brother is going through.
E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com