Prison sentence in rec center kidnapping

VERNAL — A Duchesne County man has been sentenced to prison for abducting a disabled teen and attempting to sexually assault him.

Taggart John Anderton, 51, was ordered to serve consecutive terms of zero to five years in prison for kidnapping and attempted forcible sex abuse, both third-degree felonies. Anderton also was ordered to serve one to 15 years in prison for possession of a controlled substance and one year in prison for possession of drug paraphernalia. Those sentences will run concurrent to the consecutive sentences.

Before being sentenced Wednesday, Anderton sought to withdraw his guilty plea, citing concerns about the terms of his agreement with prosecutors. But 8th District Judge A. Lynn Payne denied the request.

On March 19, Anderton held a developmentally disabled boy against his will inside the locker room at the Uintah Community Center, according to Vernal police. He moved the boy into a toilet stall and tried to sexually assault the teen.

Center staff discovered Anderton, naked, with the boy in the locked stall.

Anderton pleaded guilty in August. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the kidnapping charge from a first-degree felony to a third-degree felony in exchange for his plea. They also dismissed charges of forcible sodomy and forcible sex abuse against the Neola man.

Following Anderton's arrest, he was involved an a jailhouse fight that led prosecutors to charge him with assault by a prisoner, a third-degree felony. Anderton pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in that case and received a one-year prison sentence.

— Geoff Liesik