Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — A St. George man who pleaded guilty to exploiting and enticing two 11-year-old girls was sentenced to prison on Tuesday in what the judge described as "an appalling case."
Johnathan Paul Sperry, 25, of St. George, appeared in 5th District Court on three second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three third-degree felony counts of providing harmful material to a minor, charges the defendant pleaded guilty to in August.
Sperry originally had faced more than a dozen charges, including nine second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and six third-degree felony counts of providing harmful material to a minor. Under the terms of the plea agreement, six of the sexual exploitation charges and two of the harmful materials charges were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea. The misdemeanor enticement charges also were dismissed.
Read the full story at St. George News.
The defendant asked an 11-year-old for intimate photos – 11-year-olds are 5th graders, your honor.
–Prosecutor Cynthia Poulson
