PROVO -- A Scoutmaster has been sentenced to nine months in jail for sexually abusing a 13-year-old Boy Scout.
Bruce Quick, 37, received work-release privileges and has 10 days to report to jail.
"I would just like to apologize," he told 4th District Judge Lynn Davis at the sentencing hearing Monday. The abuse occurred between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 last year.
Quick had been charged with two first-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child. As part of a plea bargain, Quick pleaded guilty to one second-degree felony count and no contest to another second-degree count.
The deal included prosecutors not seeking a sentence harsher than recommended in the pre-sentencing report.
"This is a significant aberration from his character," defense attorney Randall Spencer said of his client.
"It seems an aberration but one that destroyed a neighborhood," Davis said. Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson said the case has polarized the neighborhood. Some residents wrote letters blaming the boy, Bryson said.
Bryson took issue with parts of the pre-sentencing report that Spencer said showed Quick isn't a pedophile.
"I think Quick is a pedophile and should be treated as a pedophile," Bryson said.
Davis placed Quick on supervised probation for 36 months. Quick also was fined $600 and ordered to pay $510 in fees and restitution for any counseling the victim may need.
The boy's mother said her son is still undergoing therapy and missed months of school. The judge recommended Quick move out of his neighborhood. Quick's attorney said that is under way.