FARMINGTON — A 22-year-old man was sentenced to serve six months in jail for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
Judge Robert J. Dale sentenced Robert David Stohel on Thursday in 2nd District Court.
Stohel had pleaded guilty to third-degree felony unlawful sexual activity with a minor in December.
Dale also sentenced Stohel to serve 36 months’ probation with Adult Probation and Parole. He stayed a sentence of up to five years in Utah State Prison
Stohel’s attorney, Joshua Fawson, said Stohel met the girl through mutual friends in January 2012.
“Mr. Stohel is very sorry for what he did,” Fawson said. “He knows it was a terrible mistake and a bad decision on his part.”
Stohel lost his job and was unable to find another one in the computer field, Fawson said.
Stohel is also a reservist and is facing a dishonorable discharge.
Fawson said the sexual activity between the two was consensual and happened just two weeks before the girl’s 16th birthday.
“They were fairly serious and were talking about marriage,” Fawson said.
It was her parents who reported the relationship to police.
The girl’s father spoke in court.
He said because of the relationship between the two and in order to protect his daughter, he pulled his daughter out of public school, took her off the high school softball team, limited contact with her friends and monitored her use of electronics.
His daughter was pregnant, he said. She had an abortion “and it was devastating to her,” the father said.
He called Stohel a “vulture criminal” and said Stohel has tried to contact his daughter even though there is a protective order.
Dale said before he sentenced Stohel, “I’ve heard nothing today that suggests you understand the gravity of what you did … what you did was a felony.”
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