A former Granite schoolteacher and wrestling coach was sentenced to a year in jail Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
Third District Judge Anthony Quinn sentenced Josh Yates, 23, to one to 15 years in prison on each count, to run consecutively, but suspended the prison sentence.
Instead, Yates will spend the year in jail, minus 104 days already spent at the Utah State Prison for a diagnostic evaluation. Yates also must pay restitution, get counseling, participate in sex offender treatment, work or attend school and abide by any other requirements of his three-year probation.
Yates originally was charged with seven counts of forcible sexual abuse, but pleaded to two as part of a plea bargain. His case at first involved sexually touching two female students who were in his science class and on the wrestling team that he coached at Evergreen Junior High School.
The judge had ordered the diagnostic evaluation to assist him in the sentencing, and the report apparently came back with a fairly positive recommendation. "This is a case where prison is justified," Quinn told Yates. "This (the report) is by no means a clean bill of health for you, but rehabilitation is within your grasp."
Yates' attorney, Walter Bugden, termed the sentence fair and said no one condones Yates' actions. "There is substantial punishment, but it doesn't ruin his life," he said.
Bugden said outside the courtroom. "I think this sentence sends a message that this conduct is not acceptable in this community."
"This is a young man who made some terrible mistakes," Bugden said. "He was not equipped to be a teacher."
In Yates' defense, Bugden said Yates was not a certified teacher, had not had proper training, had run into problems at home and had "crossed the line" in his behavior. Yates, who has two years of college, was working at Evergreen Junior High on a type of temporary teaching certificate while getting the credentials to be a certified teacher.
That argument did not sit well with the parents of the now 16-year-old victim, who said later that adults don't need teaching certificates to know that it's wrong to sexually abuse a minor. "That's just common sense," the father said.
The young woman at first had wanted prison for Yates but accepted the jail sentence, counseling and probation.
She said she had paid a price for speaking up about the sex crimes: She said the school principal asked her not to show up for picture day and to refrain from wearing her wrestling team sweatshirt, and that a "legal defense fund" had been set up for Yates at the school.
Additionally, she said she has been ostracized by several students, including the other girl originally involved in the case, who apparently is no longer part of the legal proceedings.
Martin Bates, assistant to superintendent for human resources at Granite School District, said school officials handled the complaint promptly and according to district policy.
"The moment they were given any kind of indication there was a problem of this nature, they notified the police," he said. "We took action just within hours of receiving the report."
Bates said he met with this victim and her family, who were concerned about potential retaliation. "We tried to have in place people she could go to and things she could do to get out of situations and to whom she could report things. They weren't completely happy with how all that turned out and that's unfortunate, but I think we've taken care of those things now."
Bates said the district has annual training for all administrators and new employees to discuss such things as the district's policy prohibiting sexual harassment, how to protect people making a complaint from retaliation and to report any claims of sexual misconduct immediately.
"This is just an awful experience. This kind of thing shouldn't happen anywhere," Bates said. "If something like this is going on, let the school know, let the district know. These things are wrong and will be stopped."
E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com