Scout leader pleads guilty to sex charges

OREM — A Boy Scout leader charged with sexually molesting a member of his troop has pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

Gary Wade Brown, 42, accepted a plea deal earlier this week and admitted guilt to four reduced counts of sex abuse of a child and one count of sexual exploitation, all second-degree felonies, and one count of lewdness, a class A misdemeanor — offenses that will require Brown to register as a sex offender.

Brown was arrested in January after a boy came forward to report that, in 2005, he had been abused by Brown, who was his Scout leader in Orem at the time. The boy told police he had been at Brown's home when Brown began asking him sexually explicit questions, then touched the boy's genitals, according to a police affidavit. The boy said similar touching also happened in Brown's car.

When Orem police confronted Brown, he allegedly confessed to the incidents, the affidavit states.

Brown will be sentenced July 28, and there is no agreement as to what the sentence will be, except that the state will not "actively seek" prison time, said prosecutor Julia Thomas. Both Thomas and defense attorney Shelden Carter said that, after being evaluated, Brown was considered a good candidate for treatment and therapy.

It's a tough situation for both families, who knew each other through their Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward, Carter said.

— Sara Israelsen-Hartley