Note: All posts on this case can be displayed simultaneously HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.
Update October 19th: Greg Peterson released on $2 million bail in the Salt Lake case, and his next court hearing is scheduled for November 2nd.
Since the arrest of former Utah GOP activist Gregory Nathan Peterson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on July 18th, 2012, three additional women have stepped forward claiming abuse, according to Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner. At least two of those cases were presented to the Wasatch County Attorney's Office to consider potential charges.
And on Monday August 13th, Wasatch County Attorney Scott Sweat filed a new charge of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse against Peterson in Wasatch County’s 4th District Court, which means there was probable cause found in the story of at least one of the three additional women. This means Peterson has now been accused of offending against five different women. The new charge was filed on the eve of a two-day preliminary hearing to be held August 14-15 in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City before Judge Judith Atherton, who will decide whether Peterson should stand trial on the charges. KSL news video embedded below:
Update: On August 14th, three of the victims testified; their testimony was summarized in this KSL story. On August 15th, the fourth victim testified, after which Judge Judith Atherton ruled that there was sufficient evidence to order Peterson to stand trial on the 25 charges. She also raised his bail from $750,000 to $2 million. An arraignment hearing is set for August 24th, while Peterson will make his first court appearance on the Wastach County charge on August 29th.
Peterson is still held in lieu of bail; earlier efforts to get bail reduced failed. Peterson has declared through his lawyers that he's "100 percent innocent" Here's the list of the other charges:
-- Seven counts of rape, a first-degree felony
-- Three counts of object rape, a first degree felony
-- Two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
-- One count forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony
-- Nine counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony
-- One count burglary, a second-degree felony
-- One count assault, a class B misdemeanor
-- One count sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.
In a lengthy seven-page profile of Peterson, the Deseret News reveals that Peterson's father, Jackie Leroy Peterson, is a convicted sex offender himself. Jackie Peterson has been in the Tecumseh Prison in Nebraska since 2000. Now a registered sex offender, he was sentenced to serve between 30 and 50 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a child. His first parole hearing is scheduled for 2014. If he is not paroled early, he could be released in December of 2024. Jackie Peterson's 2000 conviction was the second time in two years that he was convicted of sexually assaulting the same victim. He was originally sentenced to probation, but was then sent to prison after sexually assaulting the same victim again.
Talk about the apple falling way too close to the tree.
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