Heber City • “I am shedding a tear because cases like this make me sad,” Judge Jennifer Brown said, after sentencing a Heber City businessman to prison on Wednesday for sexually abusing boys he met through his bounce house/water slide entertainment business.
The judge wasn’t alone. Tears were wiped away, and hands were clasped tensely in the packed 4th District courtroom as she sentenced 33-year-old Bryce Johnson to nine years to life at the Utah State Prison.
Johnson — owner of Fun Stuff LLC, which operates Heber Bounce — admitted to touching boys inappropriately and taking photos of a boy in his underwear. He also had child pornography on his computer.
“I carry the shame and embarrassment of my actions,” Johnson said in court, adding that he had crossed boundaries and betrayed trust.
Deputy Wasatch County Attorney McKay King said Johnson had structured his life to be around young men.
He had become a mentor and counselor to them so he could victimize them, King said. Some of the boys needed role models, and Johnson tried to position himself as that role model, King added.
“It’s absolutely atrocious,” King said.
The boys — who were not in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing — were brave to stop the abuse and report what was happening, the judge said.
If they hadn’t, Johnson’s behavior could have progressed to more serious crimes, she added.
Julie Place Knaphus, an advocate for child victims in Wasatch County, said after the hearing, “The tremendous difficulty that [these boys] have had ... it’s been rough. You can imagine, these preteen, teenage boys, it’s a lot to handle.”
“They’ve all lost that trust,” Knaphus added.
She said she has connected the boys with therapy and has helped support them through their recovery. But some of the boys have nightmares and trouble sleeping, she said.
“Hopefully that can settle for them,” she said of the resolution of the case.
Defense attorney Tara Isaacson said Johnson had been in denial about his actions being crimes.
“The reason why we’re here today is because Mr. Johnson made a decision to take responsibility to enter guilty pleas,” Isaacson said. “He did not require that these young men come and testify in court. He does take responsibility. He’s motivated for treatment.”
Johnson was arrested June 7, after a 10-year-old told police that he and another boy were offered $50 to pose in underwear at Johnson’s home.
Johnson appeared to be sexually aroused, according to charging documents, and had his hands in his pants as he took photos of the boys in different positions. He also made sexually suggestive comments to the other boy in the room, instructing the 10-year-old to sit on the other boy’s lap and count to 10 while the other boy was “grinding” on him, charges state.
The boy asked Johnson to take him home about five minutes later, he told police. Johnson reportedly told the boy to tell his mom he’d earned the money by working to put up bounce houses, charges state. Johnson also reportedly put his hand on the boy’s upper leg during the drive.
Johnson had slapped the 10-year-old on his buttocks before, the boy told police.
Another boy, now 12, said that when he worked for Johnson, the man paid him $50 to take off his shirt and pull up his underwear so the undergarment would be visible in pictures.
Johnson allegedly asked the boy to “pose like a model” on his bed while the two were working at Johnson’s house. Later, Johnson asked whether he could cuddle with the boy and the boy told Johnson he didn’t want to. During a car ride, the boy said, Johnson told him he loved him and touched him inappropriately.
The boy felt nervous and moved Johnson’s hand, he told police.
The 12-year-old told police Johnson touched boys inappropriately and told them “every time” they were in his car with him that he loved them.
Johnson had also touched his buttocks over his clothes while giving him a back rub, the 12-year-old said, offered to pay him money to make out with him, and rubbed his stomach under his clothes. The boy told police Johnson had asked at least six other boys to cuddle with him.
Johnson was charged with four counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and one count of class A misdemeanor sexual battery. He pleaded guilty to three of the first-degree felonies, and the other counts were dismissed.
After child pornography was found on Johnson’s computer, he was charged with 20 counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor. In that case, he pleaded guilty to two of the counts and the rest were dismissed.
On Wednesday, Brown sentenced Johnson to three years to life on each of the three first-degree felonies and ordered that they run consecutively to one other.
She also sentenced Johnson to serve one-to-15-year terms on the second-degree felonies, ordering that they run consecutively to one another and concurrently to the first-degree felonies — for a total prison sentence of nine years to life.
Follow @tiffany_mf