Font ResizeWest Jordan » No one wanted to see a former Churchill Junior High substitute teacher go to jail for getting partly-naked with a 13-year-old female student -- neither prosecutors, pre-sentence investigators nor the victim and her parents.
Christopher Benjamin Page has been characterized by the victim's mother as "a great kid."
Defense attorney Ed Brass called his client "socially inept" and "shy" and said he had been punished enough by spending 12 days in jail and being scrutinized by the media.
But 3rd District Judge Stephen Roth said sanctions were warranted given that Page was 19 years old and the girl was 13.
"You knew this was wrong and you were expected to stop," the judge told Page, now 20, during a Wednesday sentencing hearing.
Instead of jail time, the judge ordered Page to perform 500 hours of community service, which is the equivalent of working full-time for three months. Page also must undergo a sex offender evaluation and pay a $1,000 fine.
The defendant apologized to the court in a quiet voice. Toward the end of the hearing, he wavered on his feet and nearly fainted.
The victim and her family attended the hearing but did not speak.
Brass said the girl's mother had written the court "a wonderful letter," in which she claimed further punishment would only cause more harm to Page and her daughter.
On Nov. 3, a Sandy police officer found
Page had been a substitute teacher in the girl's class about a month before the encounter, according to police. The two later exchanged text messages, set a time to meet and the girl sneaked out of her house, police said.
Based on his position as a substitute teacher, prosecutors charged Page with one count of forcible sexual abuse, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. He later pleaded guilty to two class A misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.
Prosecutor Peter Leavitt said Page was not groping the girl or being aggressive. He said the investigation showed Page knew the girl and her family before the crime occurred, meaning their relationship was not solely based on their roles as a teacher and student.
Meanwhile, a psycho-sexual exam revealed Page has no violent or aberrant sexual tendencies, and he is considered a low risk to re-offend.
Page started as a substitute teacher on Oct. 1, 2008, and had taught classes three times, school officials said. For the previous three years, he had worked sweeping floors at Granite schools.
