Booking photo for Brody Coates (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 39-year-old Nibley man has been sentenced to four months in jail for having sex with an underage boy at a local motel. Brody V. Coates was ordered to turn himself in to the Cache County Jail by Nov. 1 to begin incarceration.
Coates was sentenced during a virtual hearing in 1st District Court Monday afternoon. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16 to 17-year-old, a third-degree felony.
Logan City police officers began investigating Coates after the alleged victim, who lives in Brigham City, reported to engage in sex acts with the defendant at the Econo Lodge Inn and Suites. The crime took place July 3, 2020.
The victim told officers, he had previously met Coates through Grindr, a social networking and online dating app. The two exchanged sexually explicit photographs of each other before agreeing to meet.
During Monday’s sentencing, defense attorney Julie George said Coates was mortified about what he had done. She later explained, her client was not trying to solicit sex from underage teens and the victim had tried to proposition multiple men on the app.
Coates said he regretted what he had done and was sorry, stating “this is not who I am.” He explained that he had been able to learn a lot since being arrested.
The victim’s mother asked the court for a long jail sentence. She said Coates had manipulated and taken advantage of her son, who will have to live with what happened the rest of his life.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Dane Murray said Coates knew that the victim was underage and hadn’t taken responsibility for the crimes. He pointed to messages between the two where the defendant asked if the teenage boy was an undercover cop.
Judge Angela Fonnesbeck agreed with Murray. She told Coates he deserved to go to jail. She ordered him to serve 120 days behind bars, be placed on the sex-offender registry and complete treatment. She concluded, expressing hope that the victim and his family could heal.
will@cvradio.com