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SALT LAKE CITY — An American Fork man who was ordered to stand trial for a series of gropings at the University of Utah has accepted a plea bargain.
Gary Winston Fotheringham, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse in 3rd District Court Friday. In exchange for his pleas, the charges were reduced from second- to third-degree felonies. Two additional charges of voyeurism, a class B misdemeanor, were dismissed.
The charges 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 that afternoon after studying in Orson Spencer Hall 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. Sentencing has been set for Aug. 2.
