LOGAN - Laura Stevens, 76, who took it upon herself, while waiting at a bus station, to advise a mother with six children about contraception, was found guilty of trespassing and sentenced in Justice Court here Friday to 14 hours of community service.

The ruling, from Judge Cheryl Russell, came after Stevens, representing herself, told the judge that the trespassing case is "not worth 10 minutes."

"This is such a tiny incident," testified Stevens, who was wearing a T-shirt that featured photos of undernourished children in a third-world country along with the words, "All children have the right to food and basic health."

"I was trying to help a woman who needed help. She needed to know that she could get contraception."

On June 20, Stevens said she felt sorry for a woman with six youngsters who were "out of control" at the Logan Transit District (LTD) bus station. Stevens said she and the unidentified mother are the only two people who know what was said during their brief encounter.

The woman apparently didn't appreciate the advice and complained to transit officials, who asked Stevens to leave. She was informed by a law-enforcement officer that she would be arrested for trespassing if she returned or boarded a bus before her privileges were reinstated.

Stevens did return several times, and, on June 26, Logan police officer Slade Gurr intervened.

"She requested that I take her to jail," Gurr testified. After refusing both of Stevens' requests for incarceration, Gurr said he cited her for trespassing.

At pretrial conference with Logan City prosecutors earlier this month, Stevens ignored her attorney's recommendation to plead no contest to the trespassing charge. She declined a plea agreement, and attorney Nathan Hult withdrew from defending her.

"Is it illegal to speak to a woman sitting on a bench?" Stevens said Friday, arguing that her First Amendment rights were violated.

Prosecuting attorney Lee Edwards said the case has nothing to do with free speech.

"Free speech is very important, but you don't have the right to bother other people," Edwards said. "It is not the content of the speech that is the problem. The issue here is trespassing. Nothing more. If someone with apparent authority asks you to stay off the premises, Utah law requires you to stay off."

Judge Russell agreed and denied Stevens' motion to dismiss the charge.

"I'm glad you're not going to fine me because I'm penniless," Stevens told the judge.

Stevens, who said she graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in sociology when she was 72, said she might appeal the case.

If not, she will use the community-service sentence to benefit her cause - world overpopulation. With bus-riding privileges restored, Stevens should have no problem getting to her destination - the Planned Parenthood office in Logan.

abrunson@sltrib.com