WEST JORDAN — One member of a Taylorsville family accused of three generations of sex abuse was ordered to undergo a diagnostic evaluation Tuesday.
But what was expected to be a relatively textbook sentencing took an unusual turn when a victim's advocate unleashed a strongly worded tongue-lashing on the defendant, including accusations with which he was never charged.
Arnold Hansen, 36, pleaded no contest in February to third-degree felony incest. Hansen is one of five key figures in a family sex abuse case that police and prosecutors call the worst they've ever seen. Investigators say those five adults, along with five juvenile members of the same family, ranging in age from 11 to 60, all were both victims and perpetrators in the disturbing case that extended for at least three generations. Police arrested the family members in early 2006.
Arnold Hansen was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday before 3rd District Judge Robert Adkins. During the hearing, Valley Mental Health's Diana Newberry, who has been working with three of the female child victims in the case, was allowed by the court, as is standard in sentencings, to speak on behalf of the victims.
She read comments from the girls, including, "Arnie should stay in jail for his entire life for what he did to me." Another victim said, "Keep him in prison forever. ... I don't like you."
The third victim is 7 years old but has the mental capacity of a 3- or 4-year-old, Newberry said.
Although she can't describe in words what she thinks of Hansen, Newberry said she punches and gouges her stuffed animals in anger whenever his name is mentioned and then "slams them down on the tabletops."
But what caught the courtroom off guard were the angry accusations in the rest of her speech, which was typed out, several pages long and took about 15 minutes to deliver.
"The sexual abuse that occurred in your family is beyond imaginable. It is mind-numbing. At the very least it is grotesque," she said.
Newberry claimed Hansen minimized and lied "about the abuse you committed" before describing in graphic detail acts that she claimed he committed but were never brought up in court. The busy courtroom fell deathly silent as Newberry looked directly at Hansen, standing several feet away from her, and talked about sexually graphic situations. Hansen never looked at Newberry, his expressionless face instead staring at the ceiling. The testimony was apparently too graphic for some, as many left the courtroom during the speech.
"A bargain indeed you are getting," she said.
Newberry then encouraged Hansen to "spill your guts" about all the abuse inside the Hansen home.
"Join the children in breaking the family secret," she said. "Why should you keep your dad's nasty little secrets? Hold him responsible for once. ... For once in your life be a man."
Defense attorney Loren Weiss called the speech inflammatory and political and said it should have "little to no value" in Adkins' decision on sentencing because what she said was not based on the facts of the trial.
"Much of what was said today would never be heard in court because the evidence isn't there," he told the judge. "She was being evocative without being factual."
After Newberry was finished, Adkins admitted the pre-sentence report raised some concerns and ordered Hansen to undergo a diagnostic evaluation. He rescheduled sentencing for Dec. 4.
The judge also asked if Mike Christensen, who retired earlier this year from the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office, would be available to return to the courtroom. Christensen worked out many of the plea deals in all of the Hansen cases before retiring. He told the judge that Arnold Hansen, more than any of the others, was a candidate for treatment rather than incarceration. Adkins said Tuesday he would like Christensen to return to remind the court of his recommendations.
Earlier this month, the patriarch of the family, 61-year-old Paul Hansen, who pleaded guilty to amended charges of four counts of sex abuse of a child, all third-degree felonies, was sentenced to the Utah State Prison. In its report, the court recommended Hansen "serve the full 10 years on this case, that the defendant not be paroled before he has served the 10 years," according to court records.
Hansen's wife, Bente, 59, was the first of the family to go on trial in 2006 and was acquitted.
Rose Hansen, 30, pleaded guilty earlier this year to an amended charge of one count of incest. She was scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9.
In March, an arrest warrant was issued for 35-year-old Tammy Hansen, the fifth adult police believe was involved in the sex-abuse ring, when she failed to show up for court. She faces four counts of sex abuse of a child.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com