ST. GEORGE — A defendant with a long criminal history of sex crimes starting as a juvenile while living up north was sentenced on numerous charges, including rape and forcible sexual abuse, in three cases filed in Washington County.

Avery Jared Anderson, 21, appeared in court Thursday for sentencing on a second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor charge. The defendant also pleaded guilty to forcible sexual abuse, a charge that was reduced to a second-degree felony during a hearing held Feb. 23 before District Judge Keith C. Barnes.

In the third case, Anderson pleaded guilty to one third-degree felony count of aggravated assault-strangulation and one misdemeanor count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. These charges were downgraded from a second-degree felony under the terms of the plea agreement.

Anderson entered into the agreement last month, three weeks prior to the cases going to trial.

Three investigations and the cases that followed in Washington County 

The charges were filed in three separate cases starting in 2020 when Anderson reportedly had sex with a 13-year-old minor despite being told “‘no’ multiple times.” Anderson knew her age but continued to have sex with her, said prosecutor Jim Weeks during a 2022 hearing.

One year later, the defendant was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor following a report he allegedly had forced a youth to perform sexual acts upon him and then requested photos of the girl and posted them on Snapchat, as indicated in charging documents filed in the case.

In November 2022, new charges were filed against Anderson for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a young woman who repeatedly told him “no” and tried to stop him repeatedly during the assault. Avery also choked the woman during the attack. DNA was later sent to the crime lab that showed it was Anderson, case records revealed.

From there, the three cases were marred by continuances, trials scheduled and canceled, a move to California and pretrial release violations that resulted in Anderson’s arrest on March 23, 2023. These events culminated into the sentencing hearing held last week. Anderson has remained in custody in Washington County and pretrial detention.

Victims speak out

The crimes committed up north were mentioned by one victim during the impact statement read Thursday. The defendant’s crimes against the juveniles in a case up north left multiple lives shattered, including the acts committed by Anderson upon one juvenile that were “absolutely horrific,” she said.

Now in his 20s, Anderson is getting yet another slap on the wrist by pleading guilty, she said, not because he is sorry for his actions and wants to better himself, but because he understands that if he does so he will get a better deal. She went on to say there was another reason Anderson entered a guilty plea in her case. 

“He pleads guilty because he knows he’s too weak to handle an adult sentence for a crime,” she said. 

A second victim said that to this day, she continues to awake from nightmares unable to breathe, “as if I’m still being choked.”

She told the judge the possibility of Anderson serving “just one year for my justice is nowhere near the amount of time or punishment I feel there should be because he has taken far more than that from me. I will not let him take any more,” she added. 

The state weighs in

Prosecutor Jerry Jaeger said the presentence investigation report recommended prison, “and rightfully so,” for what the defendant did to each of three young women. In fact, the report suggested that Anderson “should be going to prison consecutively for a long, long time.”

But instead, Jaeger asked the court to follow the plea agreement that was entered into, based on the mercy on the part of the victims in agreeing to the plea deal. Had they not, Jaeger said, then Anderson would be looking at serving time in prison. He then asked that Anderson be sentenced to serve one year in jail on each of the cases and that each run consecutively.

He also asked for a zero-tolerance probation upon the defendant’s release. If Anderson has any violations whatsoever, “then I will be the one back here demanding prison,” Jaeger added. 

Jaeger told St. George News the reason the state entered into the plea agreement was to ensure that Anderson would be pleading guilty to at least one of the charges filed in all three cases, including the case involving the juvenile, so that a lifetime sex offender registry requirement could be incorporated into sentencing.

The defense’s position

Anderson’s defense attorney Ricky Bonwell said his client had a rough start in life before he was adopted by a “loving family.” He got involved in sports and other activities and then, while playing sports in Gunnison, he said, his client was accused of “having raped other young children.”

What actually took place, Bonwell said, was an incident involving the hazing of Anderson’s younger teammates who were just starting out. Anderson admitted to “inappropriate touching” in that case, the attorney said, and his client took a plea deal that included counseling on those cases – during which his client was doing well.

That was until his client was introduced to an inappropriate lifestyle through the internet, Bonwell said, which is how his client met several young women. Those situations turned out badly in the three cases before the court, and when his client was told to stop making advances, that Anderson “didn’t go very far past that.” All that was involved was an assault. There was no battery or marks left on the victims, he said, or anything referring to choking.

There was “none of that,” Bonwell said.

He then asked that his client be given credit for time served and be released into a program, adding that Anderson is not only amendable to treatment, but he wants to change.

It should be noted that Anderson not only pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault-strangulation charge, but he also admitted to choking one of the victims in his statement in support of his guilty plea filed with the court last month.

Similar crimes committed in Gunnison 

The “inappropriate touching” the attorney referred to in the Gunnison case took place when Anderson was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school; he was admittedly involved in the sexual assault of multiple students during at least nine separate incidents. Anderson pleaded guilty to six first-degree felony counts of object rape and five second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse.

Anderson appeared for sentencing on those charges on Jan. 15, 2019, and instead of a term of incarceration, the court ordered that Anderson leave the Gunnison area immediately after the case was settled, which is when the defendant moved to St. George to live with relatives, according to a report by KSL. 

Two and a half years after relocating to the area, Anderson was arrested on the first of three cases filed in Washington County involving the assault on the 13-year-old, followed by two more cases involving similar offenses. During a violation hearing held in May 2023, Weeks said the crimes committed by Anderson were not only serious but were escalating in the level of violence as well as the duration between the crimes that were becoming shorter. He also said the crimes committed in Washington County were similar to the offenses the defendant admittedly committed while living in northern Utah.

It was the charges filed in those three cases that Anderson was sentenced for on Thursday.

The defendant speaks 

Anderson apologized to the victims and their families and told the court he feels “horrible” for what he has done. He also said he hopes that one day he could be a better example for his younger siblings and said, “I haven’t been the son that my parents wished to adopt.”

He closed, saying, “I pray every night that one day the victims and their families will forgive me.” 

The judge addresses the victims 

Barnes said that during his time on the bench, it seems there are more and more cases like this one, leading one to believe these horrible acts are committed against “powerless women, powerless children and powerless people,” more often, but the reality is, he said, that more and more victims are finding the courage to come forward and report the crimes. 

It was that level of courage that each of the victims portrayed in both reporting the crimes and in addressing the court during the hearing. Barnes lauded the young women for “coming forward in very difficult circumstances” and for the courage it took to do so — efforts that extended beyond the hearing and will ultimately help those victims who feel powerless, the judge said, as well as the community as a whole.

“I hope you know the courage that you’re showing will have a ripple effect of good for many other victims out there,” Barnes added.

The judge then suspended the three prison sentences that included 1-15 years and two 0-5 year sentences that were to be served in prison, and instead, he ordered that Anderson serve three years in county jail with credit for the year he has already served since his arrest in March 2023. He also ordered that Anderson be placed on four years probation upon his release.

“I want to be very clear with you that this will be a zero tolerance, which means that you need to comply with all the terms of of probation.”

Anderson was also ordered to comply with all sex offender requirements and restrictions, including that he register as a sex offender for life.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.