OGDEN — A 21-year-old charged with sexual offenses against a child, a teenager and an adult has been found competent to stand trial.
But further psychological testing has been ordered to determine his mental state at the time of the alleged offenses, a two-month period two years ago in South Ogden.
Second District Judge Scott Hadley set a March 26 hearing for further review of the psyche probes of Devin Eckersley after two mental health professionals last week found him competent to stand trial.
The competency evaluations found him able to assist in his own defense and understand the proceedings against him, officials said.
The continuing evaluation would establish his mental state at the time of the alleged sexual offenses, chiefly to determine if he met the legal definition of “diminished capacity” at the time.
Because of privacy concerns, public defender Randal Marshall declined to comment in detail on any mental problems his client may have but said a finding of diminished capacity would amount to a partial defense in the case.
Eckersley was charged in June with the sex offenses stemming from accusations covering a two-month period in 2010. The listed victims are a child, a teen and an adult, according to charging documents.
South Ogden police have declined to comment on the specifics of the sex charges against Eckersley, saying the issues are complicated and involve numerous reports, and they had been advised by the prosecution not to comment.
Deputy Weber County Attorney Letitia Toombs, who filed the charges, said she couldn’t comment because of Utah rules of professional conduct banning extrajudicial comment.
Eckersley was served a summons on the charges in June, meaning he wasn’t booked into jail and the filing of a probable cause affidavit that would list the basic circumstances of the allegations was not required.
Eckersley is charged with second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child alleged on July 4, 2010, as well as unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony, on July 9, 2010.
A child is defined in statutes as someone younger than 14, while a minor is between the ages 14 and 18.
A charge of rape, a first-degree felony, is dated on court documents as occurring Sept. 5, 2010.
A month after the filing of the sex charges in Weber County, Eckersley was arrested for violating the terms of his probation in Davis County for a 2011 meth conviction and booked into jail there.
Eleven knives and two throwing stars with blades were recovered in numerous areas throughout Eckersley’s bedroom, according to an affidavit filed by his probation officer. Terms of Eckersley’s meth probation ban possession of dangerous weapons, as well as alcohol, which the affidavit said was also found in Eckersley’s residence.
The meth conviction stemmed from a November 2010 traffic stop in Sunset. Officers’ suspicions led to the summoning of a drug-sniffing dog to the traffic scene. Eckersley admitted ownership of meth hidden in a flashlight case located by the dog, court records state.
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