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SALT LAKE CITY — Karl Otterson does not deny he sexually abused two women when they were children.
But on Tuesday, he still contends he was the victim of false murder-for-hire allegations, for which he was also convicted. And he only mentioned those women after a member of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole pointed out Otterson had noticeably omitted them from his comments.
Otterson, 59, of Orem, was sentenced to a term of one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison in 2001 on a conviction of sexual abuse of a child. He was then sentenced in 2005 to a term of 15 years to life for sodomy on a child and five years to life for four counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child. Of those terms, four were ordered to run consecutively.
In 2006, Otterson was convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill David Sturgill with the Utah County Attorney's Office, the man who prosecuted his sex abuse cases. In that case, he was sentenced to another term of five years to life. The man he hired was an undercover police officer. Otterson's sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the others.
In 2008, the pardons board set a hearing for Otterson for some time this year — which ended up being held Tuesday.
During the hearing, one of Otterson's victims, who is now a mother of four, told the board that in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's hearing she has been "overwhelmed and numb" as she relived the nightmares of the events of 20 years ago. She says Otterson's abuse has had a "profound and lasting impact on my life" and has caused "irreparable damage."
She believes releasing Otterson from prison would create "significant public safety concerns."
The woman's mother, who also addressed the board, concurred that Otterson is the type of person who "can hurt someone and not feel anything for it" and he is still "clearly a threat to society."
Sturgill also attended Tuesday's hearing and addressed the board. He said, in light of Otterson's criminal history, he believes Otterson "will always be a risk to reoffend."
"The community is not safe (if Otterson is placed in) a less secure setting than the Utah State Prison," he said, adding that Otterson should remain in prison "for as many years as possible."
When asked if he wanted to respond to the victims' statements, Otterson took a long pause before saying he was duped by other inmates who he claims led him to believe he was hiring someone other than a hitman.
"I do not believe that anybody should be threatened for doing their job," he said.
Otterson believes those inmates were simply trying to trade information with authorities so their sentences would be shortened.
Board member Blake Hills, attempting to make sure he fully understood Otterson's comments, asked Otterson if he believed he was a victim in a murder-for-hire scheme, to which Otterson agreed.
When asked if he was also the victim of the sexual abuse allegations, Otterson declined.
"I have done irreparable damage to them," he said of the women he abused as children.
Hills then pressed Otterson as to why he didn't initially mention the women when asked if he wanted to reply to their comments.
"Is there a reason you didn't bring it up yourself?" Hills asked.
After a long pause, Otterson said, "I think I was trying to go through what needed to be said. I would like to apologize to my victims for what I've done. I understand it has done great damage in their lives," he said.
Otterson was also asked to reply to a statement he made to a therapist before his previous hearing indicating that he could never change. He said that statement is not accurate today.
"I was convinced if things did not change, I would reoffend," he said. "I think that I have been changing. I think that I can and will change and not reoffend."
Otterson says since that statement, his continued therapy while in prison has taught him new ways of thinking and made him better understand how his actions affect many lives.
The full five-member board will now vote on whether to grant parole or set a new hearing. That decision may not come for several weeks to a couple of months.
