Utah man sentenced to prison by federal and state judges in child porn and sex abuse cases

Utahn Robert Edwin Francis, who admitted receiving images in a live video chat of a man sexually abusing a child, was sentenced Monday to 12 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

And on Tuesday in state court, the 41-year-old Lehi resident was ordered to serve a concurrent sentence of five years to life for sexual abuse of a child in an unrelated case.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Lance Bastian said Francis will serve the federal sentence first, then be transferred to state custody.

In the federal case, Francis pleaded guilty in November to receipt of child pornography and in exchange, one count each of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography were dropped. His sentence was handed down on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson.

Court documents say Francis conducted multiple chats and shared sexually explicit photos of children from a “date unknown” until about Aug. 16, 2017, with someone whose screen name was clark_bueno. A federal grand jury indicted Francis a week later on the three child pornography charges.

On Tuesday, Francis pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced by 4th District Judge Robert Lunnen. Under a plea bargain, a second count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of forcible sexual abuse were dropped.

The federal prosecution of Francis has a connection to the pending case of Bountiful doctor Nathan Clark Ward.

In September, a federal grand jury issued a separate indictment accusing the obstetrician-gynecologist of one count each of production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. Prosecutors have said that Francis’ case stemmed from the investigation of Ward.

Ward already already been arrested and charged in Utah’s 2nd District Court with 11 felonies, including aggravated sexual child abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor. The state and federal cases are both pending, and Ward remains in jail.

After his arrest, Ward agreed not to practice medicine until his case is resolved but did not admit any wrongdoing.