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SALT LAKE CITY — A mom told a 3rd District Court judge about searching for her 14-year-old daughter using her phone location after she wasn't at school where she was supposed to be.
She wasn't expecting to find her daughter "semi-responsive" and covered with vomit in a car. A man was in the car with the girl, and asked if she was the girl's mom.
The mother recalled the man telling her he was there to help and had nothing to do with the situation. She took his word as she drove her daughter to the hospital, but later realized the man was the reason her daughter was in that situation, the reason she had the drugs.
She said Calan Nelson Clifford picked her daughter up from school more than once and was sexually abusing her while giving her drugs. Charging documents said he met the girl on Snapchat.
Clifford, 31, of Riverton, was sentenced to prison in the 3rd District Court on Monday in two cases, with two different teenage victims. At first, he declined to share any remarks, but after hearing comments from one victim and the other victim's parents, he said he was sorry multiple times.
"No one will be affected by me ever again," he said.
The mother told Judge Randall Skanchy she had two other daughters in the car who witnessed the events and tried to keep their sister alert as they drove to the hospital. She said it has been devastating, and the victim and another one of her daughters continue to struggle with nightmares.
She said her daughter was brave to get a rape test done.
"I'm so proud of her for coming forward; it wasn't easy … she did it because she wanted to protect other people," the mother said.
She asked the judge to put Clifford in prison so others will be protected.
"I don't think that anyone else deserves to go through what we're going through," she said.
Consecutive prison sentences
For his interactions with the 14-year-old, Clifford was sentenced to at least five years and up to life in prison for rape, a first-degree felony; between one and 15 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; and up to five years in prison for distributing controlled substances, a third-degree felony.
These sentences will run concurrently, the judge ruled, but consecutively to the sentences in a second, similar case that happened earlier with a girl who was 17 years old at the time. Clifford pleaded guilty to the charges in both cases on Aug. 28, as part of a plea deal.
In the other case, he was sentenced to between one and 15 years in prison for human trafficking for sexual exploitation, a second-degree felony; up to five years in prison for distributing controlled substances, a third-degree felony; and up to five years in prison for unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony.
Skanchy ordered these sentences to run consecutively to each other as well, meaning Clifford will be in prison for at least six years.
Clifford's attorney, Ellis Hendriksen, argued he has demonstrated a commitment to self-improvement during his time in jail and has helped others also working with drug addictions. She asked for an additional year in jail and then probation for her client.
Colleen Magee, assistant attorney general, argued that this case is serious, and asked for consecutive prison sentences. She said Clifford, or anyone who targets teenage girls, needs serious treatment which is available in prison. She emphasized the drug he was giving the girls, GHB, is known as a date rape drug because of its strong effect.
A terrible experience
The woman in the other case told Skanchy at the sentencing that before she met Clifford six years ago, she was happy and free. She was on sports teams and was involved in music and had graduated high school early — but as soon as she met him her life got dark. She said she was thrown into a different life.
"When I was around him I was constantly on my toes waiting for something terrible to happen, but I didn't process that everything that was already happening was, in fact, terrible," she said.
Although still a minor at the time, at 17 years old, she said she felt pressured by Clifford to make money, because he did not have a job, and he suggested she sell her body to others for quick easy money so he could reach his priority — getting more drugs.
She said during this time she was distant from her family, she would block their phone numbers sometimes, and other times she would plan to go home but she and Clifford would get drugs on the way to her parents' truck and he would withhold those substances from her to get her to do sexual acts with him.
When the woman found out Clifford had been arrested, she intentionally tried to get into jail to see him and was there for about 7½ months.
She is still dealing with addictions from that time and has nightmares about his release. The woman expressed hope that Clifford's consequences would be serious, so she can continue her life without worrying about where he is.
