Judge sentences Logan man to prison for molesting child

LOGAN — A 57-year-old Logan man has been sentenced to prison for molesting a child. Dean McEwen cried and told the court he was sorry, as Judge Brian Cannell ordered that he serve three-years-to-life in prison.

McEwen appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday morning, after previously pleading guilty to an amended charge of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.

Police arrested McEwen in March after the victim reported the defendant molested her in April 2016. At the time of the crime, he was allegedly in a bed, naked from the waist down, and encouraged the girl to touch him inappropriately. The victim was an acquaintance of the defendant and under 10-years-old.

During Tuesday’s sentencing, McEwen told the court he wanted to own up for what he did and make it right. He said he had lost his friends, family and job since being arrested. He tearfully described how he will have to go through the rest of his life with the “Scarlet Letter” of a felon. He expressed sorrow for his behavior and said he wanted to change his heart.

Earlier, defense attorney Shannon Demler said McEwen had accomplished a lot in life, being active in his church, PTA and Girl Scouts. He explained that his client had taken responsibility for the crime committed, and had lost his family and his job because of his actions. He asked the court to consider sending McEwen to jail instead of prison.

State attorney Jacob Gordon objected to a jail sentence, and said all of the good works in the world can’t take away what the defendant did.

The victim’s mother then spoke to the court, first reading a letter from the victim, asking that McEwen stay locked up for a really long time. She then explained that the defendant has had an addiction to pornography and prescription drugs for years, and was fired from his job previously for downloading child pornography. She expressed worry that there were probably other victims, since McEwen was a church seminary and sunday school teacher for years. She pleaded with the judge to give him the maximum sentence, saying the defendant wasn’t sorry for what he did, he was sorry because he got caught.

Judge Cannell said the case was a horrible event, all the way around. He described McEwen’s actions as that of a pedophile. He said he was required to protect the public and especially little children, ordering him to serve the maximum sentence for the crime.

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1 Comment

  • Joel May 19, 2020 at 4:05 pm Reply

    any chance of deleting this? I know the subjects and victims would prefer to move forward with their lives.

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