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Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
PROVO — A judge on Thursday rejected recommendations in a plea deal that would have spared prison time for a high school soccer coach accused of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a teen.
Trevor Lawrence Ott, 31, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced to serve up to five years in prison for unlawful sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl.
Ott started talking to the girl online while he was on the internet "looking for this kind of contact," according to charging documents. Police say he then groomed her over multiple encounters and encouraged her to become "more and more involved" in sexual conduct with him.
Before his arrest on Jan. 29, Ott worked as the head soccer coach for Summit Academy High School girls' soccer team and assistant coach for the Bingham High School boys' soccer team.
A pre-sentence report indicated he has "only taken partial responsibility" and "still insists that he checked and thought she was an adult," according to court records.
In documents filed as part of Ott's plea agreement in April, Ott admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the girl between October and January with knowledge of the girl's age.
Ott pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, a third-degree felony, and was sentenced to a term of zero to five years in prison.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, reduced from a third-degree felony to a class A misdemeanor, and was ordered to serve one year in prison for each charge. All five sentences in the case will run concurrently.
Under the deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend no prison time for Ott, and to allow for Ott's convictions to be reduced once he had successfully completed probation and been removed from the sex offender registry.
But 4th District Judge James Taylor rejected the suggestions in the plea deal, according to court documents, finding that the recommended sentence "does not sufficiently address the gravity of this type of crime or of these crimes, in particular."
The victim and her family suffered "extreme harm" because of Ott's actions, court records state, adding that "predatory sexual contact directed toward children by adults presents an extreme risk to the community."
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