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Show Escalante Man Pleads Guilty In 1993 Case An Escalante man, originally arrested ar-rested in January 1993 and charged with two felony counts involving sex crimes with a 14-year-old minor was in court in Panguitch June 16 where he entered a guilty plea to reduced re-duced charges, both class A misdemeanors. misde-meanors. Howard Keen, 60, appeared before be-fore Judge David Mower in Sixth District Court where Judge Mower was set to hear two motions, one from Keen's attorney Douglas Brady asking for suppression of a audio tape of Keen's alleged confession and the other from the state of Utah asking for permission to use out-of-court statements made by the victim vic-tim in lieu of in-court testimony should the victim be unwilling to testify. Serving as co-council with Garfield County Attorney Wallace Lee was Robert N. Parrish, chief of the Children's Justice Division of the Utah Attorney General's office. Before either motion could be considered, Cedar City attorney Dale Sessions who had been appointed ap-pointed as guardian ad litem for the 14-year-old victim, told the court he had a recommendation and said that he had not discussed it with any of the parlies involved. He asked that , in the best interest of the minor, the courtroom be cleared of all but the defendant, the victim's mother, and counsel for both sides, and the judge agreed. The judge had met briefly with Sessions prior to the start of the hearing. (See Escalante Man on Page 2A) Escalante Man Pleads Guilty Prnm Pa cm 1 . n6v- The group met in discussion behind be-hind closed doors for about two hours before arriving at an agreement. agree-ment. When they returned into open court, the original charges were reviewed: one count of first degree felony rape and one count of second degree forcible sexual abuse. The terms of an amended information infor-mation was then discussed that would, in its final draft, reduce the charges to two class A misdemeanors, misde-meanors, two counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse in order to avoid a trial and additional trauma to the young victim. Keen acknowledged his guilt on both misdemeanor counts before the court and told the judge he had taken indecent iiDerties wiin tne victim. Each count is punishable by one year in the county jail and a fine of $2,500 plus an 85 percent surcharge. Judge Mower did not accept the plea, holding it in abeyance for two years pending Keen's compliance with specified conditions. The judge ordered Keen to (1) pay for all counseling of the victim for a period pe-riod of two years or longer if necessary, neces-sary, (2) enter into a treatment program pro-gram or treatment from an individual individ-ual approved by both counsel, (3) successfully complete the program with progress reports to the court every three months for review by the court, and (4) stay out of the home for the next two years and have no contact with the victim. The judge also stipulated that counseling coun-seling as a family may be sought but that the victim may not be compelled to participate. The state agreed not to prosecute for a period of two years. The court will hold the voluntary plea entered by Keen in abeyance also for a period pe-riod of two years until Keen successfully suc-cessfully completes all conditions set forth by the court. All charges will then be dismissed and Keen's record will be cleared under the terms of the agreement. Attorneys Parrish and Lee commended com-mended the county's law enforcement enforce-ment personnel and their handling of the case as "thorough and professional." profes-sional." Lee said that there were no inadequacies of the case itself nor of the law enforcement's handling of the case but that sensitivity to the potential for impact on the minor victim and her family influenced the resolution of the case. |