Wilkins to get 2nd chance

PROVO — A convicted sex offender will get a second chance to participate in the jail's work-release program even though he violated his probation agreement.

Roger Wilkins, 38, a former American Sign Language instructor at two Utah colleges, was sentenced in February to a year in the Utah County Jail for sexually abusing a former student.

Wilkins was allowed to do work-release — a program in which inmates leave the jail during work hours and return to the jail at night — because he is the sole provider for his wife and three children.

That privilege was revoked in early September after Lehi police officers saw him in a Costco and took him to jail, said Jack Ford, spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections.

That information was forwarded to Wilkins' Adult Probation and Parole officer and the 4th District Court and Wilkins' work release was revoked.

However, Wilkins' defense attorney says this is a case where the neighbors are making a mountain out of a molehill.

"His neighbors hate him," said attorney Ron Yengich. "Ever since this sentencing occurred, they have called AP&P to hassle Mr. Wilkins."

Yengich said he has also fielded calls from neighbors who are upset about the court's decision to put Wilkins on work release instead of in prison.

"They are nit-picking beyond the point of rationality," Yengich said. "The reality of this is that his neighbors don't like him, and they're going to do everything to get him out of the neighborhood."

Yengich said Wilkins was at his home because he had come back early from a doctor's appointment and was at the store getting supplies for his business. He is self-employed in an online sales business.

Neighbors say they are not targeting Wilkins.

"I have no problem if he's complying with the work-release program," said one mother who didn't want to be named because she fears retribution from Wilkins. "He gets several hours of transportation a day. If he's using them to come up to the neighborhood to go shopping, I think that's a problem."

"We're not vindictive neighbors," she continued. "We're afraid. We feel like he has done some bad things. We've only acted out of an interest to protect our children and our neighborhood."

Wilkins can start work release Oct. 4 if there's an available slot and if he agrees to stay away from Lehi, said 4th District Judge Lynn Davis.

"I think the neighbors have been understandably vigilant about this case because of (Wilkins') background," said prosecutor Donna Kelly.

Wilkins was previously convicted of molesting two boys during a 1994 summer camp for deaf children.

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