Logan man admits to raping woman during Halloween party

Booking photo for Paul Doucette (Courtesy: Cache County Jail).

LOGAN — A 32-year-old Logan man has confessed to forcibly sodomizing a woman during a Halloween party in 2017. Paul W. Doucette pleaded guilty but mentally ill, which could determine whether he is sent to the State Mental Hospital instead of prison.

Doucette appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday afternoon. He accepted a plea deal, admitting to one count of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped a second felony rape charge against him.

According to police, Doucette sexually assaulted a woman during a party, early on the morning of October 29, 2017. The victim told officers, the defendant attempted to have sex with her. After telling him no and pushing him away, he held her down on the floor and raped her multiple times. The assault stopped when she called out to a friend, who walked into the room and witnessed what was happening.

During Tuesday’s court appearance, Judge Kevin Allen explained to Doucette that as part of his plea, he will have to undergo an evaluation to determine his mental state. He also reiterated, regardless of the results of the evaluation, he can still send the defendant to jail or prison.

Cache County deputy attorney Jacob Gordon asked for Doucette to be taken into custody again, saying he would prefer to have the defendant behind bars. Judge Allen said he would allow Doucette to remain out while completing the mental evaluations.

This isn’t the first time Doucette has been charged with a crime. In October 2016, he walked into a hair salon with an air-soft handgun under his arm. He reportedly waived the gun, telling the employees that he worked for the police and god. He walked out the backdoor of the business and was later confronted by police and arrested.

Before Tuesday’s hearing concluded, Judge Allen scheduled Doucette to return to court July 9 for a mental health hearing. Sentencing will be three weeks later on July 30.

Doucette is currently out of jail after posting $20,000 bail. He could face up to life in prison.


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3 Comments

  • Michael Clegg May 22, 2019 at 1:07 pm Reply

    Sadly, Paul has not had the opportunity to tell his side of the story. In all fairness, he deserves that opportunity because this situation will ruin his life. Given the nature of plea deals, he won’t get that opportunity. He takes one of the charges, the other is dropped, and he will always be known as a sex offender. So, he takes a plea deal.
    For him, proceeding to a trial is very risky because the jury may not believe him, even if he is telling the truth.
    Truly, this is a case where our mental health system and our legal system is failing Paul. I respect judge Allen. He has had a distinguished career on the bench. This situation is not his doing. This is an issue of a prosecutor and a defense attorney negotiating to get another case resolved. But, the resolution of the case doesn’t mean justice has been served.
    Because he is mentally ill, his credibility is questioned. He should have had better mental health care in the days prior to this situation. He was just released from a hospitalization for a mental breakdown. He went to a party and was clearly not acting normally. He met a woman who had allegedly been drinking. They went into a room, alone…. Then we are faced with two different stories of what occurred. He said, she said.
    I think these cases are really difficult. But, sometimes we only get to hear one side of the story. Paul deserves his day in court, but the risk is too high. So, we won’t hear his side of a story that may exonerate him of all of the charges. That is a life-altering tragedy.

    • Teri May 22, 2019 at 3:01 pm Reply

      Well said Michael. I absolutely don’t know Paul well, but have met him on occasion. This is a very difficult situation. Unfortunately he still committed a crime and will need some help so that it doesn’t happen again. Hopefully this will get him going in the right direction.

      • Michael Clegg May 24, 2019 at 9:35 am Reply

        Thank you Teri.
        I appreciate your reply. But, you said “unfortunately he still committed a crime”. This is my point. None of us know if he did. The only two people who know what happened are Paul and the alleged victim. I don’t believe that he did. I am sure that those who support her believe that he did. This is why a trial is only fair. But, it is too risky for him to go to trial because the jury may not believe him and he risks the penalty for two felonies. If he takes the plea deal, it is “only” one felony. That is too much to risk for this young man. But, due to the nature of plea deals (which is the likely conclusion in this valley with our DA and the defense attorneys rarely taking the case to trial) it is too risky for the accused to fight. If they don’t fight, their side of the story is not taken into consideration.
        When two adults willingly go into a room alone, it is his word against hers. She said he did something wrong, he denies it. This is why hearing his side of it may change the opinion of the judicial system and of the public.

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