This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 27-year-old Cedar City man pleaded guilty to reduced charges alleging that he raped a minor he met on a social media website.
Andrew Anthony Lue was originally charged in 5th District Court with one count of forcible sodomy, one count of object rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of enticing a minor over the Internet, and three counts of dealing in harmful material to a minor.
A trial for the man was scheduled to begin next week, but he accepted a plea deal Tuesday and pleaded guilty to forcible sexual abuse, enticing a minor, and sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies punishable by one to 15 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to third-degree felony of dealing in harmful material to a minor. That count is punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to documents filed in 5th District Court, Lue admitted to touching the genitals of a 15-year-old male in 2011.
Cedar City Police Sgt. JR Robinson said after Lue's November 2011 arrest that the incident began with a "benign" communication through a social media website that over time became a cellphone conversation.
Lue allegedly made plans to meet the victim at a party in Cedar City on Nov. 12, 2011, where the minor was supplied "copious" amount of alcohol before being assaulted.
Lue admitted in court documents that on the same day, he possessed and viewed pornography, and "distributed" the material to the minor.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 22, where he could face one to 15 years in prison for each second-degree felony charge and zero to five years for the third-degree felony.
Twitter: @jm_miller