Man with extensive history of sex crimes in Utah appears in court on new cases in St. George

Composite image with background photo by BCFC; overlay image by AlxeyPnferov/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A defendant with a juvenile criminal history of sex crimes was in court on two recent cases involving rape and other charges filed last year in St. George, a hearing conducted to determine if the defendant, who has the highest risk rating, should remain free pending trial.

L-R: Defense attorney Ricky Bonewell and Avery Jared Anderson, 20, who is charged with rape, sexual exploitation of a minor and other charges, appear for a hearing held in 5th District Court in St. George, Utah, May 19, 2022 | Court pool photo, St. George News

The Thursday hearing involved the case of 20-year-old Avery Jared Anderson, who faces one first-degree felony rape and two second-degree felony charges – sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated assault. He also faces unlawful sexual activity with a minor more than four years younger – charges that were filed in two separate cases.

The proceeding was to rule on whether to revoke Anderson’s pretrial release, a motion submitted by Washington County Prosecutor Jim Weeks.

During oral arguments before District Judge Keith C. Barnes, Weeks said Anderson “is a danger to the community,” while defense attorney Ricky Bonewell countered, saying, “I don’t see that he’s any type of a danger.”

In the end, the judge acknowledged the prosection’s concerns but denied the motion and ordered that Anderson remain free to continue his employment in California under the condition that he have no contact with any minor girls and that he be outfitted with an ankle monitor.

During the hearing, however, the prosecutor reviewed the defendant’s alleged crimes, starting in 2020 when he reportedly had sex with a 13-year-old minor despite being told “‘no’ multiple times,” said Weeks, adding that Anderson knew her age but continued to have sex with her.

One year later, the defendant was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor following a report that Anderson allegedly had forced a youth to perform sexual acts upon him. He then requested photos of the girl and posted them on Snapchat, according to charging documents filed with the court.

In November, new charges were filed against Anderson for alleged sexual activity with a young woman who repeatedly told him “no.” During the assault as she tried to stop him, Weeks said the defendant placed his hands around her neck, restricting her breathing. DNA was later sent to the crime lab that showed it was  Anderson, court records revealed.

Weeks went on to say the state’s position was that Anderson’s sexual crimes were not only increasing in duration, but the time period between each offense was becoming shorter.

The prosecutor said these crimes were serious, as were the crimes Anderson committed while living in Gunnison in northern Utah when the defendant was a minor. In all, Weeks said there were eight victims who came forward in those cases, which were consistent with crimes committed since the defendant relocated to St. George.

The prosecutor requested that Anderson be returned to custody and held without bail.

Defense Attorney Ricky Bonewell represented Anderson and countered by saying the “events” to which Weeks referred took place many years ago when his client was 13-14 years old and involved a group of guys who were “unfortunately” messing around while participating in football and wrestling.

Bonewell said that the incidents in Gunnison did not involve “penetration or anything like that,” adding his client only admitted to the charges because of the offer presented by the state.

The attorney also said there were individuals from the Gunnison case who are “just out to get him” and continue to track his client’s movements, even after Anderson moved to St. George.

The Gunnison cases were filed in October 2018, when Anderson was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school. He was convicted of sexually assaulting multiple students during at least nine separate incidents. He was ultimately charged with six first-degree felony counts of object rape and five second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse, according to a report by KSL published Jan. 15, 2019.

Juvenile Judge Brody Keisel during hearing held on case of Avery Jared Anderson, who was a juvenile at the time, accused of sexually assaulting multiple students in Gunnison, Utah, Jan. 15, 2019 | Court pool photo, St. George News

The teen’s name was not listed in the KSL report, due to his status as a minor at the time, but Anderson was identified as the defendant convicted of those crimes when both sides mentioned the 2019 case during the hearing held in St. George on Thursday.

During one of the hearings in the Gunnison case, Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels said that while the offenses were being labeled as hazing incidents, the defendant clearly crossed the line into sexual assault. Charges were also filed against two other teens, ages 14 and 15, for their role in assisting Anderson in the assaults.

Anderson reportedly took a plea deal in the case and admitted to eight counts of forcible sexual abuse, KSL reported, and in February 2019, after a sentencing hearing, the defendant was ordered to move to St. George to live with his grandparents. He also was ordered to attend treatment.

During the Thursday hearing, Anderson’s defense attorney told the court that since his client’s release on the recent cases, Anderson has been “stellar” in his compliance with court support services, which was supported by letters submitted to the court from Tina Jackson, the defendant’s caseworker.

After Bonewell said he believed Anderson posed no danger, he added that the prosecutor’s statements referring to the choking of one of the victims was inaccurate, in that there were no marks on the victim and the sex was “consensual.”

He then described the incident as a situation of “buyer’s remorse.” He asked that his client remain on pretrial release and that Anderson not be labeled a “danger to society.”

To confirm Anderson’s progress while out on pretrial release, the judge asked Rachel Larsen with Washington County Court Support Services if Anderson has been in full compliance since his release, to which she responded by saying the defendant’s case manager said Anderson was doing “fantastic” and there were no concerns.

Weeks said during his rebuttal that while he could appreciate that Anderson was checking in with court support services, that was not the issue – “it’s what he’s doing to these individuals,” as well as the seriousness of the charges filed against him.

Weeks went on to describe the way in which one of the victims was choked during the reported assault by saying, “She could see her vision closing in, and she was terrified.”

The prosecutor went on to say those were not the words of someone “who is having buyer’s remorse,” as the defense had described, but were the words of someone who was victimized by Anderson — who continues to victimize people.

“I appreciate that he’s checking in,” Weeks said. “But I don’t think that protects the community, especially given his actions in these cases.”

Just before ruling on the motion, Barnes summarized the status of the cases by saying that following Anderson’s arrest, the defendant posted bail of $15,000 and was released. Based on his prior criminal history, the court utilized a formula that uses a point system where each prior crime is assigned points based on the severity. The judge said the results elevated Anderson’s risk to a level 5, the highest risk level.

Criminal history is ranked using a point system as part of risk assessment analysis used throughout the state to assist in release and sentencing in Utah | Image courtesy of the Utah Sentencing Commission, St. George News

The judge then asked the prosecutor if there were any other conditions that could be implemented that would reduce the prosecutor’s level of concern should the defendant remain out of custody pending trial. Weeks said the defendant should be outfitted with an ankle monitor and further prohibited from having any contact with females.

Bonewell countered by saying his client has done so well since his release that he got a job in California and said he would not object to an ankle monitor as long as it would allow his client to continue working out of state.

When Anderson was asked if he would comply with both terms, he said it would be difficult to wear an ankle monitor at his current job, since he is working as a door-to-door salesman for a pest control company.

Trial has yet to be scheduled in either of the two cases.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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