Craig Roger Gregerson, the man arrested in connection with the death of 5-year-old Destiny Norton, has a lengthy history of domestic violence and yet last year successfully completed a 16-week court-ordered group therapy program to curb his violent tendencies.

Gregerson, 20, pleaded no contest in Sandy Municipal Justice Court to a Dec. 23, 2004, incident in which he shoved his mother-in-law against a wall with his hand around her throat and punched her twice in the face with his fist while her 17-year-old son was present.

Gregerson was charged with class B misdemeanor of simple assault and received a "plea in abeyance," which removes the charge from his record if he fulfills all court requirements.

Among the program's stated objectives was the requirement that Gregerson identify four "triggers" to impulsive anger and domestic violence, formulate interventions to "defuse" them — including timeout — and present a plan to his group to "keep himself and others safe."

A judge dismissed another class B misdemeanor charge of domestic violence in the presence of a child stemming from the same Sandy incident.

A "notice of completion" report of the domestic violence therapy from Valley Mental Health is on file with the Sandy court bearing a March 10, 2006, date — only three days after a 3rd District Court judge dismissed a protective order that Gregerson had sought against his wife, Catherine, 22.

Gregerson, in a rambling, hand-written complaint, claimed his wife had done such things as hit him, threaten to kill him and drug him.

But his protective order, filed in February this year, was dismissed by a judge after Catherine Gregerson's lawyer countered by describing her as a "battered wife" and Gregerson as a physically cruel man and a liar who made up these claims to get their 1-year-old daughter and their apartment.

"Respondent (Catherine Gregerson) is a battered wife who has put up with it because she loved the petitioner and felt a need for his love," attorney Delano S. Findlay said in documents filed in 3rd District Court on March 3.

Findlay wrote that Gregerson had abused his wife repeatedly in the past, including several episodes of hitting her, punching her in the stomach when she was pregnant and possibly triggering a miscarriage, shoving his fingers into her nostrils and punching her in the head with his fists while she was holding their baby.

Findlay also described a time when Gregerson threw the baby across the couple's queen-size bed because the child had tipped over some food he was eating.