ST. GEORGE – A Washington City man accused of voyeurism and the sexual exploitation of a child was sentenced to serve seven months in jail Tuesday.
Nathaniel Isaiah Tamplin, 24, appeared in 5th District Court with attorney Larry Meyers before Judge Jeffrey Wilcox for sentencing Tuesday morning.
Tamplin was arrested earlier this year based on information supplied to authorities by Google, Inc. representatives who reported Tamplin had uploaded an image of child pornography to his Google email account.
“The image is explicit in nature and was identified as pornography involving a child,” a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy wrote in charging documents.
Following the execution of a search warrant in February, Tamplin admitted to police he downloaded and uploaded the image to his email, according to court records.
He would on to state that he had also used his phone to secretly record video of a female acquaintance getting out of the shower. Tamplin also said this happened at least “a dozen times” and involved two females – one over the age of 18 and one who was under 18.
The two females involved were described as having been like family to Tamplin, Meyers said.
Read more: Man allegedly admits to recording naked girls exiting shower, uploading child porn to Gmail
“Obviously (this incident) violated and hurt them,” Meyers said.
The victims and their father were torn by the situation, Deputy Washington County Attorney Ryan Shaum said. As Meyers said a moment before, Shaum reiterated that Tamplin had also been viewed as family by the victims as well.
When it came to any particular request on how the family believed Tamplin should be sentenced, Shaum said the father told him he would leave it to the prosecutors to determine how justice would be served.
Neither the father or the victims involved were present in the courtroom.
Tamplin was originally charged with two second-degree felonies for the sexual exploitation of a minor and two class A misdemeanors for voyeurism using a concealed electronic device. That was reduced to a single second-degree felony and misdemeanor charge as the court case progressed.
Wilcox noted the prosecution and defense had focused more on the misdemeanor charge than the felony charge. He said the felony more was more serious as it involved the accusation of child pornography.
Meyers said the charges are largely being treated as one and the same since they involved the teenage girl who was “essentially like a sister to Tamplin” and involves the violation of trust in that manner. However, as the case involves a minor it is still a serious matter, he said.
“Mr. Tamplin has a lot of regret,” Meyers said. “The victims aren’t here, but he would express his apologies to them – he did violate their trust.”
Since bailing out of jail following his February arrest, Tamplin has been involved in therapy related to the incident, Meyers added, and was getting some help in that regard.
“He has a positive mindset and is ready to accept the court’s judgment,” Meyers’ said.
Tamplin faces up to 15 years in prison for the second-degree felony and at least one year in jail for the misdemeanor, along with potentially over $12,000 in fines. Wilcox stayed that sentence and instead sentenced Tamplin to serve 210 days in the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility and up to 36 months of supervised probation.
The sentence was a recommendation made through a presentencing report that investigated Tamblin’s background and circumstances. It also noted a lack of previous criminal history, which Shaum also mentioned in court prior to sentencing.
Additional aspects of Tuesday’s sentencing include going through sex offender therapy and following Utah’s sex offender registry requirements. Tamplin will also have to submit to any curfew and or electronic monitoring requirements placed on him by Adult Probation and Parole once released from jail.
While Wilcox said the crime was troubling as it involved people Tamblin knew, and added that uploading a photo of a child was “reprehensible,” he nonetheless said he appreciated Tamblin’s efforts in seeking therapy and believed he had “expressed remorse” for what he had done.
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Twitter: @MoriKessler
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Family dinners around the table will always be a bit awkward after this.
Seems like a light sentence to me, must know some higher ups. Plus gets weekends for his sentence. I’m not quite sure this individual will understand what he did wrong with this slap on the wrist sentence. I give it 6 months before you see his ugly mug on the bookings report for violation of probation. Way to go St George.