Assistant fire chief reaches plea deal for rape charges

Austin James Corry, 26, the assistant chief of the Kanosh Fire Department in Millard County pled guilty to four counts of forcible sexual abuse as part of a plea deal last week.

Austin James Corry, 26, the assistant chief of the Kanosh Fire Department in Millard County pled guilty to four counts of forcible sexual abuse as part of a plea deal last week. (Utah County Jail)


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PROVO — A man charged with multiple counts of rape while working as the assistant chief of the Kanosh Fire Department reached a plea deal last week just before his trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday.

Austin James Corry, 26, of Kanosh, Millard County, was charged in October 2018 with sexually assaulting and raping a female firefighter who he supervised. The assaults happened multiple times beginning in 2015, and the female firefighter made an audio recording of an assault, in which she is heard telling him to stop, according to court documents.

Corry was placed on administrative leave and suspended after he was first arrested.

He was charged shortly afterward with the rape of a second woman who delivered cookies to him at the Kanosh Fire Station in November 2016.

Corry was charged with two counts of rape and two counts of object rape, first-degree felonies; five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; and five counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, in relation to the first victim. He was charged with one count of rape, a first-degree felony, in relation to the second victim.

Under the plea deal, Corry pleaded guilty to four of the five sexual abuse counts. All of the first-degree felony counts were dismissed, including the one first-degree felony in the second case.

Juab County Attorney Ryan Peters said that the plea offers were discussed with both of the victims before they were presented to Corry, and that both of them met with the prosecutors multiple times and were satisfied with the offer.

Peters said the second victim felt that the plea deal offered to Corry adequately represented the crimes against her and the other victim, although the second case was dismissed.

"The evidence in the cases reflected at least four separate incidents of forcible sexual crimes. Thus, the offer of four counts of Forcible Sexual Abuse as second-degree felonies was made," Peters explained.

He offered plea deals to Corry previously, which were withdrawn after he did not accept them. Peters said he is not sure why Corry decided to reach out and see if he could be offered a plea deal again. Corry's attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

Peters said that the plea deal did not contain any agreement regarding sentencing and that he is consulting with the victims about what would be the appropriate sentence to recommend.

Corry's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2022. All of the four charges carry a punishment of between 1 and 15 years in prison in addition to a fine of at least $10,000.

The prosecutor did tell the court that the state agreed to concurrent rather than consecutive sentences, according to the court's record of the change of plea hearing on Nov. 30.

In the hearing, Corry was directed to report to Adult Probation and Parole for screening and told that he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Charges were also filed against Scott Corry, the defendant's father who was the fire department's chief and has since retired. He was charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and official misconduct, a class B misdemeanor, for not looking into the matter when the first victim told him about the sexual assault.

The female firefighter was assaulted by Austin Corry again after she had told Scott Corry about the sexual abuse, according to prosecutors. Court documents said that Scott Corry did not make any reports or take any actions to protect her from further abuse.

Scott Corry pleaded guilty to official misconduct and no contest to obstruction of justice a few months after the charges were filed. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison but the sentence was suspended. He was placed on probation for 12 months and paid a fine.

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Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

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