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MOAB — A Moab man has been sentenced to prison for trying to sexually abuse two children at a birthday party.
Kenneth George Sherman, 59, on Tuesday pleaded no contest to two reduced counts of attempted sex abuse of a child, a third-degree felony. Seventh District Judge George Harmond moments later ordered him to serve up to 10 years in prison.
Investigators said two children, ages 5 and 7, were attending a birthday party when they were assaulted by Sherman on May 26. A woman at the party noted that Sherman "acted intoxicated during the festivities," and other witnesses confirmed the behavior, according to charging documents. Investigators who arrested Sherman noted in a Grand County Jail report that he was on parole at the time for felony DUI with a child in the car.
Sherman in June was originally charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, but as part of a plea agreement and exchange for his guilty pleas, prosecutors reduced the charges. Harmond on Tuesday issued a prison sentence of up to five years on each count, ordering the terms to run one after the other.
In March 2017, Sherman was sentenced for the DUI conviction to up to five years in the Utah State Prison. Corrections officials confirmed that he had been released from prison on parole roughly a year later.
