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A former University of Utah employee convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in a campus building will serve two life sentences in prison for the crime, state court records show.
Lonnie Norton, 51, was convicted by a 3rd District Court jury in February on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges for the Nov. 11, 2012, abduction and sexual assault of a female acquaintance.
Court papers say Norton, then the director of College Computing for the College of Humanities at the U., broke into the woman's home, duct-taped her head and mouth and then forced her into his car at gunpoint.
Norton took the woman to campus, where he forced her into sex, threatening to kill her and himself with a handgun, according to documents. Hours later, Norton returned the woman to her Sandy home, where she called 911, the documents state.
Norton was found guilty of two counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault; one count each of second-degree felony kidnapping and burglary; and misdemeanor counts of assault and violation of a protective order.
On Tuesday, 3rd District Judge Bruce Lubeck ordered Norton to serve terms of 15 years to life on each of the sexual assault charges and terms of one to 15 years on each of the second-degree felony counts, state records show. The terms are to be served concurrently.
Norton was also ordered to serve 545 days in the Salt Lake County jail on the misdemeanor charges, but was granted 545 days credit for time he's already served.