LOGAN — A 66-year-old Nibley man has been sentenced to at least 70 years in prison after being convicted of molesting and raping two children years ago. Mark Konschella Petersen was arrested Sept. 16, 2022, following an investigation by law enforcement.
According to court records, Petersen was sentenced Nov. 26 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously was convicted of 10 counts of sodomy on a child and 15 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. The conviction came following a four day jury trial in September.
According to prosecutors, a woman reported to a co-worker that her now adult children had been sexually abused by Petersen when they were children. The woman later spoke to officers with the Logan City Police Department.
As part of the investigation, police interviewed the victims, a man and woman, who both reported similar incidents years ago when they were young.
The female victim described being sexually abused and molested by Petersen from the time she was in preschool, until preteen age. She said all of the incidents she could remember occurred in Nibley.
The male victim was also interviewed and explained how he was sodomized 15-20 times by Petersen. The abuse occurred when the boy would have been around 9-years-old.
Petersen did not testify during the September trial. During the investigation, he was questioned by police, and reportedly denied the incidents ever occurred.
According to court records, Petersen was given the maximum sentence of 15-years-to-life for each of the sodomy on a child charges and 5-years-to-life on each of the aggravated sexual abuse of a child charges. Judge Spencer Walsh ordered four of the 15 year terms and two of the 5 year terms to run consecutively, with all of the other terms running concurrently.
The sentence means Petersen will spend the rest of his life in prison. His attorney, Bryan Sidwell, has indicated that his client intends to file a request for a new trial.