PROVO — A twice-convicted sex offender has 30 days to find a new location for his computer-based business or he will spend the next year in the Utah County Jail without the benefit of work release.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis ruled Wednesday that Roger Wilkins, 38, cannot work from his Lehi home — where he wanted to run the eBay-like business — when he's released from the jail for the work program.
The judge said in his ruling that Wilkins — sentenced in February for sexually abusing an 18-year-old deaf woman and pre—
viously convicted of lewdness with two young boys — must find a new building in which to run the business.
Wilkins, a former American Sign Language instructor, was sentenced to serve one year in the county jail but allowed the benefit of work release, a program where inmates leave the jail for eight hours to work under supervision, then return to the jail each night.
Davis allowed Wilkins to participate so he could earn money to pay restitution to the victim and support his wife and three children.
But the jail doesn't allow work release for self-employed people because of the inability to monitor inmates. Questions about whether he could work from home pushed back the day he had to enter the jail to serve his sentence. He still has not had to report to the jail.
"He needs to get a business location and office that's not located at his home," Davis said. "It seems to me that (this) would resolve the issue and keep him out of the neighborhood."
After the 30 days, if Wilkins has not complied with the court's request, he will be sent to jail for the full year without work release, Davis said.
In court on Wednesday, Deputy Utah County Attorney Donna Kelly requested that the 30 days be spent in home confinement except when Wilkins was searching for a job.
However, Davis denied the request, saying he wanted Wilkins to serve the full year in jail without a reduction for home confinement time.
During the 30 days, Wilkins will also be required to meet weekly with an officer from Adult Probation and Parole to ensure that he is abiding by his 36-month probation responsibilities that began when he was sentenced. He cannot be around children other than his own and cannot possess a firearm.
Wilkins' attorney Ron Yengich assured the judge that his client has been complying with all the court has requested.
"The problem that we're here before the court with is not Mr. Wilkins' problem," Yengich said.
Wilkins left the courtroom to meet with an Adult Probation and Parole representative to make sure he understood the probation requirements.
Davis also ruled that Wilkins comply with any zoning, permit or application requests in whatever city Wilkins works from.
Wilkins had previously been operating out of his home without a home occupancy permit from the city of Lehi. Without that permit, Wilkins also hadn't been granted a business license.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com