On February 17, 2010, Michael Pratt, former Seminary Principal of Lone Peak High School Seminary pleaded not guilty to 15 felony charges involving sexual abuse of his student. (Link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700009881/No-trial-delay-for-former-Lone-Peak-seminary-principal-Michael-Pratt.html)
However, on June 2, 2010, he pleaded guilty in the sex case rather than go to trial. Two counts of object rape and one count of forcible sodomy are first degree felonies. One count of forcible sexual abuse carries a second-degree feelony. (Link: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_b6f87dd8-6d97-11df-9f44-001cc4c03286.html)
A plea deal was given to Pratt whereby his charges could run concurrently. Minimum time to be served would be six years with maximum being life in prison. But minimum time has a way of being reduced greatly - say two years.
What about the victim? She stated that it has interrupted nearly every facet of her life. (Link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700036659/Ex-seminary-principal-Michael-Pratt-pleads-guilty-in-sex-case.html). Right now she does not have a real clue of the long-term effect this will have on her life. I doubt her family has any idea of the depths this trauma will take. It is my experience that every aspect of her life will be impacted. She didn't graduate with her class, but that is only a beginning.
I went to a sentencing hearing in March this year (which got postponed). I was disappointed because I really wanted to see some action taken. Why? I experienced some of the same things when I was a young teenager. My seminary teacher-principal also abused me from age 14 to 16. Like this girl, I was accused of knowing better and could have stopped it. They just didn't know my history which involved sexual abuse as a child and as a 12-year-old. You learn to dissociate early on when your free agency has been taken from you, and "no" is never an option.
I was shocked and dismayed to see a repeat of my own experience occur so close to home. I actually went to the hearing because I felt it might assist me in healing my own old wounds. I was actually shocked to see the media out in the hallway afterward awaiting Michael's approach. They treated him as a celebrity instead of a perpetrator. I went home and cried and then I wrote an email to the newspaper which they totally ignored. But at least I told them how I felt.
On August 31, there is supposed to be a sentencing in the case by a judge, but until then Michael is out free on bail. (Link: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=10994731&nid=148) It makes me wonder what the perpetrator is out doing. Back in my day, my teacher was not tried nor sentenced. Instead, he went from being a seminary principal to being a high school principal in a close-by town. Meanwhile, I was asked by clergy to stand in a public meeting and ask for forgiveness of the congregation. I carried the sting of that day for over 50 years until a daughter with a degree in counseling said: "Forgiveness for what? For being abused?" Until that moment, I thought I was the perpetrator.
I plan to attend the sentencing the end of this month. Hopefully, it will bring some closure for me.
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