"We believe it was an injustice, and that an appeal will overturn the jury's verdict and we will be back here for a new trial," she said.

She believes Mortensen should have granted an earlier motion to sever the charges. He didn't, stating that while they were different situations, they constituted a pattern of conduct.

"It's not that difficult to show that Dr. Hildreth was clearly prejudiced by being found innocent on four, guilty on two," she said. "The regular lay person is going to say to themselves, 'I've got four to five women coming in here testifying about the same person. He's got to be guilty of something.' And that's exactly what happened."

Hildreth's family told the judge how service-oriented and kind-hearted their father is — a far cry from how the media and trial process has portrayed him, they said.

Debbie Hildreth, Hildreth's wife, talked about how her husband would always worry about how he could help patients, frequently staying up late into the night reading up on how to address certain ailments.

"Grant genuinely cares for people," she said. "He always has. His best interest has always been in trying to help others. He is not in any way this sexual criminal he's been made out to be."

"He played basketball with me," said his daughter, Shannon Hildreth. "He coached me since I was 8 years old. I'm so grateful for that now, I have a scholarship, I have a future in front of me because of my dad."

Both women said they don't believe Hildreth poses a threat and doesn't belong in jail or prison.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com