Keep sex offender in prison, victims tell parole board

DRAPER — In 1997, an 11-year-old girl in blue jeans, a T-shirt and tennis shoes stood before a parole hearing officer and testified against her grandfather.

A week later, the Board of Pardons and Parole opted to keep Eugene Holt Swenson, 77, in prison to continue serving out his life sentence for sodomy on a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Thursday, that girl was back to make another plea to keep her grandfather in prison.

This time dressed in a black suit over a magenta top and wearing magenta eye shadow, Ashley White, 18, sobbed through her five-minute testimony against Swenson. The Deseret Morning News normally does not identify victims of sexual assault, but White chose to make a public statement Thursday.

She held up pictures of notorious crimes against young girls — Polly Klaas, Jessica Lunsford and others — who were victimized by men who had been paroled.

She wanted to drive the point home to board member Jesse Gallegos that men who are known sex offenders have struck again after their release.

"Please do not let him ever harm another child again," she said.

Swenson was convicted in 1994 of molesting four grandchildren, but he had never admitted to molesting White until Thursday, she said.

During the hearing Gallegos asked Swenson, who lived in Utah County, to talk about his crimes, and Swenson discussed the cases of molestation that led to his conviction, as well as some cases he was never charged with, including those of a sister-in-law and niece about 50 years ago.

Swenson completed sex-offender therapy at the Utah State Prison in November 2002, and he says he realizes he can never undo the damage to the family.

"I have asked forgiveness and I continue to ask forgiveness for those I harmed," he said.

Another of his victims, who identified herself as Kara, said she appreciates that Swenson has completed his two years of therapy.

"I've had seven years of therapy, and I'm still not over what he has done to me," she said. "You (Swenson) will never understand what you've done to me and my family . . . I don't think sexual molestation is something you can be cured of. I don't think 11 years in prison makes it go away."

Swenson was in the hearing room while a contingent of media and victims' families listened to Kara.