Article - June 27, 2008 - Daily Herald

A.F. chiropractor gets jail time for sex abuse

By Jeremy Duda

Grant Hildreth, his family and his attorney all believe that his sexual abuse conviction will be overturned on appeal. But against their protests, Hildreth will have to wait in prison while the process moves forward.

In American Fork's 4th District Court on Thursday, Judge David Mortensen sentenced Hildreth to one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison. In March, a jury convicted the Riverton chiropractor on two counts of forcible sexual abuse and found him not guilty of four others after several former patients accused him of inappropriately touching them during treatment at his American Fork office.

Hildreth's wife and two of his daughters testified on his behalf at the sentencing hearing, asking Mortensen to consider his ceaseless concern and generosity toward others, the strong morals he passed on to his six children and his devotion to his religion. They also asked Mortensen to allow Hildreth to remain free until his appeal is complete because of his family's dependence on him.

But deputy county attorney Alex Ludlow asked Mortensen to consider several other factors, and those appeared to sway the judge. On top of his recent conviction, Ludlow cited Hildreth's 1992 conviction for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old cousin in Montana, a sexual abuse investigation against him in Louisiana, and what he termed Hildreth's refusal to take responsibility for his actions. Mortensen assured the family that he was not sentencing Hildreth for anything other than the two charges he was convicted of in March.

"I see a lot of people in the course of my duties as a judge, and therefore I'm familiar with the fact that these convictions and the allegations that we have in other places are not the sum and substance of who you are," Mortensen told Hildreth. "I rarely see anyone I believe is completely evil."

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