LOGAN — A 33-year-old Logan man has been sentenced to jail instead of prison for sexually abusing a young girl in Lewiston several years ago. Omar Vega-Perez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, will likely spend less than a month in jail before being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Vega-Perez was sentenced July 8 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to an amended count of attempted sexual abuse of a child, a third-degree felony.
According prosecutors, the Cache County Sheriff’s Office received a report of child sex abuse in October 2024. The victim’s father said the incident occurred in the early months of 2021.
The girl was interviewed at the Cache Children’s Justice Center. She explained how Vega-Perez had inappropriately touched her during her sixth grade summer.
Deputies noted, the defendant was in a relationship with the girl’s mother at the time of the crime. He would be left alone on some nights while the mother was at work.
The victim told investigators how she was lying in bed pretending to be asleep on the evening of the incident. Vega-Perez entered her room and began inappropriately touching her. The actions continued until the girl pretended to wake up.
When deputies confronted Vega-Perez about the allegations, he denied the incident ever took place, claiming the girl and her mother were just trying to get him in trouble.
During Monday’s sentencing hearing, Cache County Deputy Attorney Joshua Nemeth said the plea deal was in the best interest of the victim, so Vega-Perez can likely be deported. He noted how prosecutors wanted the defendant removed from the community and prohibited from coming back to Cache Valley.
Through a Spanish interpreter, Vega-Perez offered an apology to the victim and her family. He also told his wife, who earlier had pleaded with the court for mercy, he was sorry for what he did.
Judge Spencer Walsh said he normally would issue a prison sentence for the crime Vega-Perez committed. Instead, he agreed with the plea deal recommendation for jail, so deportation proceedings can take place sooner.