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BOUNTIFUL, Utah (AP) -- Retired Sunset fire Chief Lloyd Hood has been sentenced to 13 months in jail for sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.
Second District Court Judge Glen C. Dawson put Hood, 54, on 36 months probation and gave him credit for 201 days already served in jail.
Hood, who has been in solitary since he was arrested in December, said, "I don't know if I can ever fix this. I'll have to live with this the rest of my life."
Hood said he has been in contact with his church leaders and plans to go through whatever he needs to go through, "because no one will know the hell I've gone through while in jail."
The girl's mother of the victim asked the judge to sentence Hood to at least two years in prison.
"I don't care if he feels isolated. My daughter felt isolated. She didn't think she could tell anyone," the woman said.
Hood's attorney, George S. Diumenti, said in his 34 years of law practice he has rarely seen as truly remorseful a defendant as Hood.
"Mr. Hood is not a sophisticated criminal. He did not pull the wool over the therapist's eyes," Diumenti said.
Dawson said he has not seen a defendant as remorseful as Hood and understands why the victim's family is struggling with the sincerity of Hood's remorsefulness.
"This is a horrible crime," Dawson said. The victim will have to go through "a large amount of healing."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
