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SALT LAKE CITY -- A former recruiter for the U.S. Marine Corps was sentenced to prison Monday for sex crimes against a minor.
Trevor Hooper, 26, admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old student he met while recruiting at her high school. He will serve three concurrent sentences of 1-15 years in the Utah State Prison for the two second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
In court Monday, Hooper told the judge that he was ready to take responsibility for his actions that involved having multiple sexual encounters with the girl.
His lawyer, Scott C. Williams, said he acknowledges the sentence as an appropriate punishment and never once asked for leniency.
"Mr. Hooper has felt remorse from the day I met him. His has been a position of wanting to deal honorably with a dishonorable act, asking mostly about what the process holds, what the legal aspects are and what the most appropriate way to deal with the case is," Williams said.
Hooper's parents were present in court Monday and listened as the victim's father told the judge what a traumatic experience it was to find pictures of his 15-year-old daughter naked with Hooper touching her.
Hooper's parents said the sentence was what they expected, and they are saddened by the entire situation.
Prosecutors stated they are satisfied with the sentence, given the fact that Hooper abused his position of power.
Deputy District Attorney Katherine Peters said, "We wanted him to recognize he was in a position of special trust because that was the hinging point of the case. He was a Marine recruiter at the school, which we think was a position of special trust."
Hooper had been in the Marines for eight years and was a recruiter for about nine months before he was charged with the sexual crimes. According to his attorney, he now has been discharged.
Investigators said Hooper first became friends with the girl while recruiting at her school. Authorities say the two had sex at a hotel in the Salt Lake Valley in April 2009.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
