Teacher pleads guilty to sex charges

Keith Lorraine Gillins, a former mayor of Fillmore and a local high-school teacher, pleaded guilty to five felonies as part of a plea bargain that will resolve cases in two counties.

Both cases involve sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl who was one of Gillins' high-school students at the time.

Gillins, 61, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Fillmore before 4th District Judge Donald Eyre on Wednesday, but instead entered into two different plea bargains offered independently by prosecutors in the two counties.

The judge consolidated the cases to resolve both sets of charges.

Gillins had been facing a total of 18 felonies involving different sexual acts with the girl.

In the Millard County case, Gillins ended up pleading guilty to one count of attempted rape, a first-degree felony, and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, both second-degree felonies.

In the Juab County case, Gillins pleaded guilty to one count of attempted rape and one count of attempted forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies.

Eyre ordered a pre-sentence report and set a sentencing date of Oct. 19.

Deputy Millard County Attorney Patrick Finlinson said he was satisfied with the results of Wednesday's hearing.

"We try to balance the need for an appropriate outcome, with consultation with the victim's family and the victim," he said, adding that one consideration was the girl's ability to testify against Gillins.

She was willing to do so if necessary, but strongly preferred to resolve the case without having to take the witness stand.

"If we had not been able to work out an agreement, we would have been willing to proceed with a preliminary hearing and a trial," Finlinson said. "Certainly, he got some benefit from the plea bargain, and we got some benefit from it, as well."

Finlinson said the case is not finished yet, but he believes this is the right way to resolve it.

He said his office did not collaborate with Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge on plea bargains. Instead, each prosecutor's office made its own offer to Gillins, and his attorneys handled negotiations separately.

In the end, the judge found both plea bargains acceptable and entered them into the record.