GOP Senator Changed Utah’s Child Rape Law After Family Member Had Sex With 13-Year-Old 

The teen was arrested in 2023 and charged with two counts of child sodomy and two counts of child rape. Adams said he was “surprised by the severity of the charges” (uhhh) against his family member. Under his revisions to S.B. 213, the law now states that if “the defendant is 18 years old and enrolled in high school at the time the sexual activity occurred,” they’ll no longer be tried as an adult—but charged as a minor.

The senator claims that because the new legislation was not enforced retroactively, he did not intend for it to help his family member. But people who helped him draft the law sing a different tune. According to the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney in the case, the relative’s situation was a “pivotal” part of the decision to amend the policy.

And retroactive or not, the change inspired court negotiations to end in a plea deal last week. The 18-year-old could have received a 25-year sentence and been required to register as a sex offender, had Adams not tipped the scale in his favor. Instead, in exchange for pleading guilty, he doesn’t have to serve any additional jail time (he only served once, for one week right after his arrest) and doesn’t have to register as a sex offender. Incredible.

The 13-year-old’s mother found out about the incident through “random conversation,” according to the newspaper, and reported it to the police with permission from the child. Court records later showed that a friend of the 18-year-old also contacted the police. The mother told the outlet that she felt “punched in the gut” when the law changed. “It was out of nowhere.”

“I feel like a law is the law, regardless of who you are,” she said. “But that wasn’t what was going on here.” 

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