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LOA, Wayne County — A Wayne County man convicted of kidnapping a Snow College student has been ordered to serve at least one year and up to 20 years in prison.
The 19-year-old victim was kidnapped and sexually assaulted over a period of five days before police eventually found her hidden and covered in coal in a coal storage area of a home in Loa.
"I thought he would kill me," the woman testified.
Sixth District Judge Marvin Bagley ordered Brent Neil Brown, 42, to serve two concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison for obstructing justice and kidnapping, second-degree felonies, and a consecutive term of zero to five years for forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony.
"If you're the changed person you say, then there's a lot of leeway for the board of pardons to let you out. If not, there's a lot of leeway for them to hold you," Bagley said when sentencing him on Sept. 30.
The victim said she felt like an outcast during her first semester at college in 2021. She turned to strangers on the internet to help her get away from her feelings, without thinking about the consequences.
"I felt like I deserved to be treated wrong because I wasn't good enough," she said.
She met Brown in a chat room and they arranged to meet. But investigators say the relationship quickly became nonconsensual. The woman said she was held against her will, raped multiple times a day and threatened both physically and verbally. She was tied up when Brown went to work. She said Brown told her he was the only one who cared for her, and that police and her family were no longer looking for her.
'Very fortunate'
Brown pleaded no contest to the three charges as part of a plea deal. In exchange, charges of rape, object rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated assault were dismissed.
Bagley told Brown he was fortunate he was caught before anything more serious happened. He said he was aware of the case while police were still looking for the woman, and thought she could be dead.
"If you'd have been pinned and pushed into a corner I hate to think what would've happened, Mr. Brown. You're lucky it didn't, you're very fortunate," the judge said.
He also said there are some people in Wayne County who might have taken justice into their own hands, and a jury would have probably been more harsh had the case gone to trial. He said Brown got an "extremely good result."
"It should have been obvious to you within two or three hours that she wasn't consenting. There's just too many things that you cannot say she consented to," Bagley told Brown.
But he said there is no question the crimes deserve a prison sentence.
Bagley told the woman people will listen to her because of what she has been through and encouraged her to help other victims and be an advocate.
"You can be whatever you want to be … the future's so bright for you if you take advantage of it, and I think you will," he said.
'Devastating impact'
The woman's parents talked about how hard they searched for her over the days she was missing. Her mom said a three-word text, "I love you," with no response afterward keyed her in that something was wrong. They connected with her roommate, and learned she hadn't come home the night before.
"Little did we know the suffering she was experiencing," she said.
When the mother learned her daughter was found, she said she dropped to the ground, thankful for the miracle. But she also talked about the years of therapy she has brought her daughter to, and the nights she has spent in her room.
"He manipulated her in ways that have had a long-lasting and devastating impact on her life even today," she said.
The victim's father said he thought they had lost her, and was horrified by the thought of what might be happening to her if she was in a place she couldn't leave.
"Brent Brown knew that there was a major search for her. He disregarded the search and prevented (her) from following it as well," he said.
The victim said over the last few years, she has spent hundreds of hours in therapy and still has nightmares and flashbacks.
Probation or consecutive sentences
Brown's attorney, Jared Petersen, said there was no evidence the woman had been physically injured and he asked the judge to sentence the man to 48 months of probation, in addition to the almost three years he spent in jail since his arrest. He said rehabilitation would be easier, and Brown could help pay for it if he were not incarcerated.
Petersen said the woman told officers she had untied herself once and the attorney claimed she could have called police at that point, but the judge countered this by reminding him that she said her life had been threatened.
Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels asked the judge for consecutive sentences, saying Brown could have put a stop to the crimes but never did.
"For her it turned into a nightmare," he said. "She asked him multiple times to go home. I think there's ample evidence to support that."
Brown blamed his criminal charges on government meddling in private business, Daniels said, adding that Brown never intended to have a consensual encounter or he wouldn't have destroyed the woman's cellphone or kept her after she wanted to leave.
"We wouldn't be here today if there was consent," Daniels said.
Brown appeals
Brown told the judge he has grown since he has been incarcerated, saying he now has goals, thinks about how his choices affect others, has strengthened relationships with his family and learned skills.
"By accepting this plea deal I have allowed (the woman) to achieve some closure while at the same time allowing her to maintain dignity and avoid getting on the stand," he said.
He said he prays she can live a good life.
"Regardless of what people think of me, there are multiple people in my life who have also suffered what I'm accused of and I would never want to put anyone or any families through that pain," he said.
Brown has appealed his sentence, asking for a review from a higher court. His appeal was filed with the Utah Court of Appeals on Oct. 9.
