Prison for beating of teen girl

VERNAL — Up until he turned 18, Arron Nathaneal Harrison was "a really good kid" — the kind of kid who never gave his father any problems.

But two days after he turned 18, his dad, Leo Harrison, said his son moved out of the house and started hanging out with the "wrong kids." These were the kids who convinced his son to skip school, commit crimes and begin drinking, Leo Harrison told the Deseret News Tuesday after watching a judge send his son to prison for beating a pregnant girl and other crimes.

Arron Harrison, 21, was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to 20 years in the Utah State Prison.

The Vernal man's list of criminal activity, which included sexual activity with a minor, theft and burglary, may have gone nearly unnoticed, except for the crime he committed in May. Arron Harrison repeatedly punched a pregnant teen he had just met in the stomach in an attempt to help her abort her 7-month old fetus.

"Your conduct was unconscionable. You just seem to be a rule unto yourself," said 8th District Judge A. Lynn Payne. "I think your conduct shows remarkable disregard for human life; to meet somebody casually and agree to take a life for money."

Arron Harrison pleaded guilty to attempted murder, a second-degree felony, and faced a possible sentence of one to 15 years in prison. But Payne said the crime fit better with a new Utah abortion statute for attempted killing of an unborn child, a third-degree felony. The judge sentenced him as if he'd pleaded to that crime and ordered him to serve zero to five years in prison for the beating.

The new law, which went into effect in May, allows prosecutors to file such a criminal charge if proper procedures are not followed in a legal or illegal abortion.

Arron Harrison and the 17-year-old girl, who has since given birth, met each other in a random encounter in Naples, Uintah County, on May 20, when the teen asked him if he knew anyone who would help her kill her baby. Prosecutor Mark Thomas said the two were in a darkened bedroom when the girl put a pillow over her head and let Arron Harrison punch her in the stomach five times.

According to court records, Arron Harrison also slapped and bit the pregnant teen before he was paid $150 by the girl. The pair admitted to their actions not long after the incident was reported.

Thomas argued that Arron Harrison should be sentenced on the attempted murder charge. He said the crime did not fit the lesser third-degree felony abortion statute because Arron Harrison is not a physician.

"The only way the abortion statute can make sense is if it is a medical procedure performed by a physician," Thomas said. "Killing an unborn child in any state is a homicide. That's a crime."