LOGAN — A judge has sentenced Dayton Chavez to jail. The 19-year-old Paradise man was convicted of coercing a teenage boy into a sexual relationship last summer.
Chavez appeared in 1st District Court Monday morning. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony. He told the court he had messed up and wanted to take responsibility for what he had done.
Defense attorney Mike McGinnis asked the court for leniency, describing how his client will no longer be able to enter the military because of his arrest. He said Chavez wanted to pay for what he had done, but putting him in jail for an extended period would not do any good.
State attorney Jacob Gordon disagreed that Chavez was remorseful. He noted how the defendant was still blaming the victim for what had happened, saying the teenage boy had a crush on him.
Judge Thomas Willmore ordered Chavez to serve 120-days in jail and then be placed on probation for up to five-years. He also ordered him to registers as a sex offender and have no contact with minors.