CEDAR CITY —A Cedar City man was sentenced Monday to five years to life in the Utah State Prison for a first-degree felony rape that occurred in July of 2016.
Myron Astor was arrested June 14, 2018, by the Cedar City Police Department on one count of first-degree felony rape, one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and one count of class B misdemeanor assault.
According to the probable cause statement, an officer responded to the Cedar City Hospital on July 24, 2016, because a sexual assault examination procedure was being conducted for a teenage female.
The victim disclosed the incident to law enforcement and identified Astor as the offender. Information and evidence from the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner procedure were taken into law enforcement custody, and DNA was collected from the victim’s injuries.
Astor was interviewed in August of 2016 and provided a DNA sample to law enforcement. He was released from custody, pending the results of the DNA testing.
Almost two years later, law enforcement received the results of the DNA testing. Astor’s DNA sample matched that found in the victim’s injuries.
Astor pled guilty to the rape and was convicted on Feb. 26.
Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson told Cedar City News the Iron County Attorney’s office is grateful for the “bravery and patience of the victim, being able to stick with us through this process,” which took nearly four years overall.
“Without victim input, it’s difficult to get justice in these cases,” Dotson said. “We could not have done it without her.”
Dotson said attorney Mike Edwards and victim advocate Jessica Cramer, in addition to David Evans with the Cedar City Police Department, put in tremendous effort for this case.
“They did a great job getting justice in this case,” Dotson said. “These are some of the more horrific things that we see in this office, so these are things we devote a lot of time and resources to, to make sure that we get justice for our victims.”
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