Utah filmmaker who admitted to sexually abusing young girl sentenced to prison

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AMERICAN FORK — A prominent Utah filmmaker who previously admitted to sexually abusing a young girl several years ago will spend at least six years in prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Sterling Van Wagenen, 72, was sentenced to six years to life in prison on Tuesday in 4th District Court in Utah County. He is due for sentencing in a second sex abuse case, in which he also pleaded guilty, in West Jordan on July 9.

Van Wagenen, of Woodland Hills, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, in April. He admitted to touching the girl inappropriately at his home between 2013 and 2015 when the girl was 7 to 9 years old.

The court recommended that parole authorities keep Van Wagenen in prison beyond the six years sentenced Tuesday, according to Deseret News reporter Annie Knox. Van Wagenen also was ordered to have no contact with the girl.

“I want the victim to know, you did the right thing and you’re not responsible for anything that happened and anything that will happen," 4th District Judge Roger Griffin said in the courtroom. "You’re a brave young lady."

Van Wagenen is a film producer and director whose credits include production of the Academy Award-winning 1985 film “The Trip To Bountiful.”

Van Wagenen served as a lecturer in the Film and Media Arts department at the University of Utah, according to a biography page on the University of Utah website that was deleted earlier this year. He resigned from the university in February, according to a U. spokeswoman.

He also had a hand in co-founding the Sundance Film Festival and served as the executive director of the Sundance Institute, according to the page. He was also a professor at BYU from 1993 to 1999, the biography states.

In the second case, he was charged with touching the same girl a second time while at her family’s home in West Jordan. The abuse happened during the same time frame, from 2013 to 2015.

He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child in that case on May 2, according to court records.

Van Wagenen originally faced 15 years to life in prison for each count in the two cases. Prosecutors agreed to seek a lighter sentence of six years to life in exchange for his guilty plea, according to his attorney. His sentences in both cases will likely run concurrently, the attorney said.

Van Wagenen first came under fire after an accusation surfaced earlier this year that he abused a 13-year-old boy in 1993. Sean Escobar, the accuser who is now 38, told the Deseret News and other media outlets he recorded Van Wagenen apologizing for inappropriately touching him.

Salt Lake County Sheriff’s office documents from July 1993 obtained by KSL.com state that Van Wagenen “confessed to fondling” the victim, who was a friend of Van Wagenen’s son and was sleeping over at his Holladay home, in a call to the Division of Family Services. However, he was never criminally charged in the case.

In an April 30 statement, the Sundance Institute said Van Wagenen has no current connections to the organization and has not been involved since 1993.

“Sundance Institute categorically denounces his behavior as described in recent reports, and we stand in solidarity with those whose brave truth-telling shines light on abusive behavior,” the statement said.

Contributing: Annie Knox, KSL