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LOGAN — A former youth detention center officer will serve at least eight years and up to life in prison for sexually abusing a teen inmate. He also faces separate charges of raping another teen.
Earlier this month, 1st District Judge Spencer Walsh sentenced Wesley Kendall Allen, 40, of Richmond, to a term of five years to life in prison for object rape, a first-degree felony. Allen was also sentenced to three terms of one to 15 years in prison for two counts of forcible sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies, and a term of zero to five years for tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.
The judge ordered the last sentence to run concurrent with the other charges, but the others were ordered to run consecutive with each other, meaning Allen will serve a term of eight years to life in prison. He will receive credit for 228 days already served in the Cache County Jail.
Allen was originally charged with two additional counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. These charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Allen was arrested in January following a report that he was sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl who was an inmate at a juvenile detention center where Allen worked.
The victim told police Allen took her to a part of the facility without video surveillance multiple times to sexually abuse her, court documents state. Video surveillance from the facility confirmed Allen took the victim to the unmonitored room multiple times for visits.
Video surveillance also showed Allen watching the victim shower, and giving her a bracelet and a handwritten note that said, "I love you" on it, charges state.
The victim told police Allen planned to help her get a driver's license and passport and take her out of the country when she turned 18, according to court documents.
Police called Allen "predatory" and said in court documents, "Wesley Allen used his position of trust and knowledge to groom and perpetrate a child."
His wife, Jeana Allen, sent a letter to Walsh prior to the sentencing saying that she knows him to be a "protector" and was "shocked" when he was arrested.
"I believe Wesley is a good man who fell into the trap of sin and temptation and needs to face the consequences for those choices," she said.
In April, Wesley Allen was also charged with rape, a first-degree felony, for an incident involving a then 16-year-old girl on Nov. 5, 2005. This victim said she was at Allen's apartment in Smithfield when he showed her a sexually explicit book and then raped her, according to the police booking affidavit.
The victim told Logan police that Allen knew her and her family prior to the assault, and they had mutual friends.
During this investigation, police said they found that Allen had been fired from several places he was employed at for inappropriate sexual behavior between 2007 and 2022.
"In these terminations, he was in a position of trust," an affidavit states. "During the course of the investigation, (Allen) has ... shown a pattern of seeking out vulnerable victims for sexual purposes."
Allen will next appear in for a court hearing involving the second case on Aug. 21.
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Gabrielle Shiozawa
