Booking photo for Lloyd Thomas Clark. (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 73-year-old Logan man has been sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a girl numerous times almost 20 years ago. Lloyd Thomas Clark said he had made a mistake, before being led out of a courtroom to begin serving his sentence.
Clark was sentenced in 1st District Court Monday morning. He had previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Defense attorney Michael McGinnis said Clark was sorry for what he did and has taken responsibility for what happened. He noted how the defendant had been in jail for more than nine months, and asked for credit for time already served.
The victim tearfully told the court how her life had been “changed forever” because of what Clark did and how she had struggled for more than 16 years. She asked the court not to grant Clark any credit for time already spent in jail. Before concluding, she turned to face the defendant and said that despite what he did to her, she forgave him.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Griffin Hazard said Clark didn’t just make one mistake. He noted how the victim was molested repeatedly over the course of a three year period while the defendant was babysitting her. The defendant would inappropriately touch her while he was viewing pornography on a computer.
The sexual assaults continued until Clark was arrested for chatting with an undercover police officer in Colorado, in June 2007. During the chats, he stated that he had an 11-year-old granddaughter, who he had molested and wanted to do more “sexual things” with. He was later convicted and sentenced to prison.
Judge Angela Fonnesbeck said Clark’s case was disturbing. She ordered him to serve a term of five-years-to-life in the Utah State Prison. Due to what she called the “grievous nature of the sexual offences,” Judge Fonnesbeck said it was inappropriate to recommend and credit for time already served.
will@cvradio.com