Suspect waits to see if sex case will be tossed

PROVO — A man facing several charges of sexually assaulting women he met on the Internet is now waiting for a judge to make a ruling as to whether one of the cases can be dismissed.

Kent Parkinson, 25, faces seven second-degree felony charges of forcible sex abuse, 10 charges of rape, two charges of aggravated kidnapping and two charges of forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies.

The charges are a collection of three pending cases in 4th District Court.

In each case, Parkinson became acquainted with the woman through LDS-oriented online dating services and arranged to meet her. In each case, the two began watching a movie during which Parkinson would allegedly sexually assault the woman. The most recent allegation was on Dec. 7 from a woman who said she was held against her will and raped 10 times over a 10-hour period.

Parkinson is being held in the Utah County Jail on $250,000 cash-only bail.

The previous two cases are from October 2004, and Parkinson's lawyer is arguing that one of the cases should be dismissed because of ambiguous language.

Mike Esplin said Tuesday, outside the courtroom, that he believes prosecutors weren't sufficiently clear in one case, alleging the events happened between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, 2004, an overly large time frame for the charges.

Esplin has asked Judge Samuel McVey to dismiss that case. He is also opposing a motion to join the two cases, a motion the Utah County Attorney's office has proposed because the cases are similar and joining the two would provide more support for victims who have to testify.

"Two cases can have a cumulative effect," Esplin said. "It's hard to look at facts of two cases and (then) judge them independently."

McVey is expected to rule in January on the motion to dismiss the case.