ST. GEORGE — A St. George man who pled guilty to sexual abuse charges received 364 days in jail in connection with a 2017 case that has taken nearly five years to resolve.
Bradley Allen West, 45, turned himself into Purgatory Correctional Facility on Monday to begin serving out his sentence on two second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse. The sentence was handed down by District Judge G. Michael Westfall during a hearing held in 5th District Court on March 31.
The defendant was initially charged with four first-degree felonies, including one count of rape, two counts of object rape and one count of forcible sodomy. Under the terms of a plea agreement reached in October, the charges were reduced to the two second-degree felony charges that West pleaded guilty to six months ago.
The case was filed following an investigation into an incident reported in June 2017. A woman called police reporting she had been raped by West, whom she reportedly met on an online dating site.
According to charging documents filed with the court, the two met for dinner and later she went to West’s home and was playing pool, which is when she noted the suspect was becoming intoxicated. In the pool room, the woman, who had recently had her leg amputated after a skiing accident, put her crutches down. After playing pool, the suspect gave her a “piggy-back” ride and instead of staying in the room, he continued up the stairs and into his bedroom which left her separated from her crutches.
Once in the bedroom, the report states, the woman attempted to fight off the suspect and tried to get away, but was unsuccessful as West began sexually assaulting the woman. Once the assault was over, the victim hopped out of the room and down the stairs. Once she reached her crutches, the suspect approached her for a second time, but she was able to get out of the house and to her car.
When detectives attempted to schedule an interview with West, they learned he worked out of state. Detectives spoke to the suspect multiple times over the phone attempting to meet in person, which is when the suspect said he knew what they wanted to meet with him about and denied that he ever had sex with the woman. After a number of phone calls, messages, home visits and various attempts to schedule an interview with West, all of which had failed, a warrant was issued for his arrest in August, 2017.
The following month the suspect was arrested and booked into jail in Washington County on a cash-only bail of $100,000. Weeks later, the judge ordered that a bond could be posted on the bail and in October, the suspect posted the $10,000 bond and was released from jail.
Over the course of the next five years, the case was wrought with multiple trial dates, resolution hearings and sentencing dates that were scheduled, postponed and then rescheduled, including a sentencing hearing set for February. But when the defendant motioned the court to withdraw the guilty plea he entered in October, the hearing was postponed. West’s defense attorney, Douglas Terry, withdrew as counsel citing a conflict. According to court records, the defendant stated he fired his attorney and requested another court-appointed attorney. The court denied the request based on the defendant’s indigency status. Instead of hiring private counsel, the record states, West decided to represent himself.
On March 2, the defendant’s request to withdraw his guilty plea was denied and a sentencing date was scheduled that took place last week.
During the hearing, West again brought up the guilty plea he entered and questioned whether or not there was more evidence that should have been brought before the court before he entered the plea, an argument District Judge G. Michael Westfall quickly shut down by telling the defendant the motion to withdraw his plea was already denied.
Prosecutor Zachary Weiland represented the state and opened by asking the court to follow the recommendations as set forth in the presentence report prepared prior to the hearing. He also referred to the agreement entered into in October, when the defendant entered a guilty plea. He also said the defendant should serve time for the “despicable” acts he committed, and then told the court that the victim wanted to speak.
The woman addressed the court by saying that addressing the judge would help bring her closure following the incident, and she went on to say it was difficult to describe how the incident had affected her life over the last five years when she was “brutally assaulted by Mr. West and I pled with him to stop.”
She went on to say that on that night she had no idea that her life was going to be forever changed. She also said she consented to the plea agreement that included jail time but took prison off the table — an agreement she made with the understanding that West had accepted responsibility for his actions. Since then, she said, she became aware the defendant attempted to withdraw his plea, which negated any hope he would be personally accountable for what he had done.
She also said the defendant “raped me and took advantage of my disability by carrying me away from my crutches.”
She also said that consenting to the plea deal in no way negated the severity of the crimes that he committed and that all five charges were based on crimes he actually committed, she said, adding that after nearly five years she wanted the case resolved so that she could move forward with her life. However, she said had she known he would retract his plea, take no responsibility for what he had done, or show zero remorse, she would have taken him to trial and “had him sent to prison.”
She went on to explain she still battles depression, insomnia and panic attacks, despite undergoing therapy for the last three years,.
Despite that, she said, she chose to stand and face her attacker to tell him that “no means no” the first time it is said. She also wanted West to know he is not above the law and that there are consequences for his actions.
“I deal with consequences from his actions every day. And because of that, it’s taken away a lot from me,” she said.
She closed by asking the judge to ensure that “some form of justice would be served” so that the pain she has gone through over the last five years was not in vain.
Weiland spoke next and said that right after pleading guilty to the charges, the defendant “decided he’s not going to accept responsibility,” and he went on to say what bothers him most about the case is that West attacked a person who was extremely vulnerable. The defendant knew, Weiland said, that he could take advantage of her if he removed her from her crutches, which is what he did “because he’s a coward.”
Then the woman reported the attack immediately after, and when detectives attempted to meet with the defendant the suspect avoided them and only spoke to them on the phone, again, because West is a coward, Weiland said.
He closed by saying what haunted him the most was when West said he could not remember all of the details because it was a heated situation and that “he was a guy, and that’s just what guys do,” the prosecutor said, referring to the defendant’s statements to law enforcement.
“That is not what guys do,” Weiland said, “They don’t rape; they don’t sexually assault.” He closed by repeating his claim that West is a coward “and I think he should go to jail for what he’s done.”
The judge then asked the defendant if he had anything to say before the sentence was rendered, at which point West denied the allegations against him, despite pleading guilty to the charges, and said he had two witnesses who were there that night “the entire time,” but that he hadn’t had the opportunity to give his side of the story.
The defendant denied ever having sex with the victim when he was asked by the judge, and then he went on to say that what he wanted was a “fair trial” so that he could tell his side of the story, and knowing that was not possible, he said he had nothing else to say.
Westfall also commented before rendering the sentence by saying the recommendation of the presentence report was to send the defendant to prison. He went on to say he would honor the agreement made between the parties, one that was made under the premise that Wells was taking responsibility for his actions that night.
The judge went on to say the state would rather see a substantial punishment be imposed, if not for the agreement, and then he suspended the two prison terms of 1-15 years to be served concurrently, one for each count. Instead, the defendant was sentenced to serve 364 days in county jail.
The defendant was also placed on 36-months probation to be supervised by Adult Probation and Parole and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $750 in restitution to the victim, as well as adhering to the other standard provision as ordered by the court, including random polygraph examinations and providing a sample of his DNA.
As part of his probation requirements, Westfall said the defendant was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years. The judge also ordered that West surrender himself to the jail on Monday to begin serving out his sentence.
When Westfall adjourned the hearing, the audio feed to the attendees is typically cut and the video stops. But in this case, the audio feed continued since the defendant, who appeared on Webex by cell phone, never hung up his phone. He could be heard speaking with someone in the background, as he referred to the victim using derogatory names and was heard saying the woman “lied all the way through” the hearing.
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