FARMINGTON -- Flanked by a dozen family members and his attorney, David Mark Novak stood before a judge Tuesday in blue jail garb asking for the chance to become a normal member of society.
The 40-plus days the former LDS social services counselor spent in the Davis County Jail for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl has changed him, he said."The experience being here has been the hardest experience in my life," Novak told 2nd District Judge Jon Memmott. "I will make sure that I will never, ever harm anyone again."
After hearing arguments from Novak and his attorney, Memmott released Novak from jail and placed him under the supervision of the sex offender unit of Adult Probation and Parole.
Novak pleaded guilty in December to forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to one year in jail and three years probation at a Feb. 16 hearing.
On Tuesday, Novak's attorney, John Walsh, argued successfully for his client's release.
"I just don't think jail is going to serve any purpose here," Walsh told the court.
Novak will now live with an aunt and uncle in Salt Lake County and must complete an intensive sex-offender treatment program.
"I want, more than anything, to change," Novak told the court. "Therapists sometimes need therapy."
Novak surrendered his license as a clinical social worker to the Utah Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing on March 7. He cannot reapply for five years. Novak also has been excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, which Walsh said, "he dearly loved and which he admitted he shamed."
Family members say they are ready to move on and help Novak do the same.
"He has a lot of family support," said a teary-eyed Jim Healey, Novak's brother-in-law. "I've had a hard time with the news media because they really abused him, but he wants to start over. We want him to start over. He wants to start over, and I think that's the biggest thing."
When news of Novak's abuse broke, several media outlets in Utah reported the incident.
According to court documents, Novak abused the 13-year-old girl between October 1994 and October 1995, a time during which he "occupied a position of special trust with the victim."
Although Novak is out of jail, he must complete sex offender treatment and have no contact with girls under the age of 18.
If Novak violates the terms of probation, prison is where he's headed, Walsh said.
But family members insist that won't happen. They described Novak as a "kind" and "service-oriented" person.
"That's why he got into counseling," Healey said.