21-year-old Cedar City man sentenced to prison for forcible sexual abuse

Stock photo by Alex Star/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — A 21-year-old Cedar City man has been sentenced to serve two prison terms of 1-15 years after pleading guilty to two counts of forcible sexual abuse.

Michael Allen Abbott was sentenced in 5th District Court on Monday by Judge Matthew L. Bell, who ordered that the terms be served consecutively. That means Abbott will serve a minimum of two years and for as long as 30 years. The final determination will be up to the Utah Board of Pardons.

Two additional charges that had initially been filed against Abbott, one count of rape and one count of object rape, both first-degree felonies, were dismissed as a result of a plea agreement.

According to charging documents filed with the court, Abbott was accused of sexually assaulting a female acquaintance on or about Jan. 17, 2020, approximately two weeks after he turned 19. After being formally charged in October 2020, Abbott was arrested and booked into Iron County Jail on March 3, 2021, and he has remained incarcerated since then.

During Monday’s sentencing hearing, which was conducted via videoconference, Abbott’s lawyer asked that Abbott receive probation.

“My client has been incarcerated now for, I believe, over 400 days on this matter,” defense attorney Bryan Jackson told the court. “At the time the incident took place, he basically did acknowledge that he did have sexual intercourse with the victim in this case.”

Jackson asked the judge if his client could be ordered to complete an intensive outpatient program “on a 90-day basis, to see whether or not he does rise to the occasion of being fully responsible.”

Iron County Jail booking photo of Michael Allen Abbott, Cedar City, Utah, March 3, 2021 | Image courtesy of Iron County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

“The reality of it is, this is really the first time he’s ever been in the adult system,” Jackson added. “And to just send a kid to prison, whatever the offense is, without at least first giving him a try at probation, I think is not utilizing the services that are available (or) that could be made available.”

However, prosecutor Sam Woodall then addressed the court, saying, “I think the most egregious portion of this case is the lack of accountability.”

“It’s clear that he’s been able to minimize this in ways, or deflect,” Woodall said of Abbott.

Woodall also spoke of the emotional damage Abbott had inflicted upon the young woman. According to her written statement, the trauma from the incident had “emotionally torn me to pieces,” Woodall said as he read from the document.

Even though she sought counseling and treatment, Woodall added, “Ultimately, she was fearful and disengaged with everyone in her life. Her life was no longer her own. And it felt as if she was controlled by constant fears and negative emotions.

“Mr. Abbott needs to have consequences more than he has gotten any previous time,” Woodall said. He then further quoted directly from the woman’s statement:

I wholeheartedly believe he will continue to victimize others if he is not punished for what he’s done. I will never forgive him. This is not something that can be forgiven. He was fully aware. I never gave him consent. This was never about sex. This was about power. And that’s all he wanted. It didn’t matter how many times I pleaded with him, said no, said to stop. He was more worried about what he wanted, rather than listening to my voice. He will never realize the amount of suffering he has caused me. I am so much more than a victim of this. I’m a survivor whose voice should be heard.

Woodall then asked the court to sentence Abbott to prison.

“The point is, the damage has been done,” he said. “This victim has been in this process for a long time, and we’re grateful to be to this point where we can get the sentencing behind us and move forward. But the appropriate sentence should be imprisonment. And he can seek the treatment that he needs there.”

Before handing down the sentence, the judge alluded to a similar offense of which Abbott had been found guilty prior to turning 18.

“As I understand it, you had a sexual offense as a juvenile,” Bell said as he spoke to Abbott. “You ended up in detention because you were not compliant with the terms in that case. You are an adult now, you’re here, now convicted of these much more serious counts, and asking for opportunities to be put on probation.

“I understand one’s as a juvenile and one’s as an adult,” the judge added. “But you’re not that far removed from last time. What would be different this time?”

“I guess I don’t know, honestly,” Abbott replied. “I’ve got a strong support team that’s there to help me this time around. Yeah, it’s all I ask, is just for another chance.”

Abbott also told the judge he would “take accountability” for his actions.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

Before he pronounced the sentence, Bell said one thing he found particularly concerning was that a doctor had noted in the psychosexual evaluation report that many of Abbott’s responses appeared to have been made in “an overly defensive and/or deceptive manner.”

“These tests have built-in checks and balances to ferret out whether someone’s trying to be defensive, deceptive or just put down what they think the answers ought to be,” Bell said. “I don’t pretend to have that expertise, but the expert who did the report noted that. That’s important.”

The judge then sentenced Abbott to the two consecutive prison terms of 1-15 years and ordered him to pay at least $648 in restitution to the victim, with the final amount to be determined later. The judge then waived any additional fines or fees. 

The court also recommended that Abbott to take part in sex offender therapy while in prison and to seek additional testing and treatment after his eventual release.

“You had an offense as a juvenile, you didn’t do well on probation, you ended up in detention (and) you’ve now committed a more serious offense,” Bell added. “For the reasons I just outlined, I have concerns about how committed you are to treatment and putting this behind you. And, I’m worried about the safety of others and preventing this from happening to anyone else.”

Abbott has 30 days to file a written appeal if he chooses to do so, the judge added.

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

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