SALT LAKE CITY — An American Fork man who pleaded guilty in a series of gropings at the University of Utah has been sent to prison.
Gary Winston Fotheringham, 32, was sentenced to zero to five years in prison for three counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony, by 3rd District Judge Katie Bernards-Goodman. The sentences will run concurrently.
The judge said she will recommend that Fotheringham be given credit for the 609 days he previously spent in custody.
The charges — which originally included two misdemeanor counts of voyeurism that were later dismissed — all stem from events on or around the U. campus on Nov. 4, 2011. Witnesses testified that Fotheringham's behavior began that morning when he watched women change in a locker room of the Marriott School of Dance.
A student testified that she was collecting her backpack after studying in Orson Spencer Hall that afternoon when Fotheringham put one hand on her shoulder and used the other to touch her breasts over her clothing and held his hand there.
Another woman reported being assaulted that evening just off campus near the Pie Pizzeria. She said she was touched over her clothing and held in a bear hug by her attacker.
Another student said she was returning to her car that same evening when she saw a man in dark clothing heading directly toward her. She was attempting to close her door when the man blocked her way and forced himself on her, touching her aggressively. She managed to bite his hand before her car alarm and the footsteps of a passerby scared him away.
Police said their records led them to suspect Fotheringham, who was connected to a campus voyeurism case a few years earlier.
When they went to talk to Fotheringham at his place of work on Nov. 10, 2011, they noticed the man had a wound on the index finger of his right hand. Inside Fotheringham's car, they also found a jacket similar to the one described by one of the victims.
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