Springville man, Bret MacArthur, who groomed teen to be wife sent to prison

PROVO — A Springville man who tried to groom a 15-year-old girl to become his second wife was sentenced to prison Tuesday.

The victim, now in her early 20s, pleaded with 4th District Judge Fred Howard to impose a strict punishment on Bret MacArthur, 43, with whom she had a long-term sexual relationship.

"He's not sorry," she said. "He doesn't realize what he's done to me. I have to deal with this the rest of my life; he doesn't."

"I don't want him to do this to anyone else," she added.

Howard went beyond a pre-sentence report recommendation of 210 days in jail and instead imposed nine concurrent sentences of zero to five years in the Utah State Prison, with another term of up to five years to be served consecutively.

The judge said that while the victim may bear "some accountability" for what happened, MacArthur had ultimately exploited her trust in him.

MacArthur pleaded guilty last month to nine counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, all third-degree felonies.

The victim testified at a preliminary hearing that she had met MacArthur when she was 10 years old and in foster care and he was a volunteer on the Springville ambulance crew. Years later, after the relationship became sexual, they talked of getting married and exchanging rings.

She was initially reluctant to testify against MacArthur, but told police in November 2007 that she wanted to reopen the case.

Prosecutor Julia Thomas said it was "really sad that he would take this girl who had conveyed all this information to him about having an upsetting, disturbing, traumatic childhood, and for him to say 'Well, she's already had sex with other people, so she might as well with me.' "

Howard wrestled with the sentence because MacArthur could actually do less time in prison if he is granted early parole than he would in jail. The judge said MacArthur had admitted to actions that could have been charged as first-degree felonies.

MacArthur was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 except his four children. His attorney said he has already been undergoing sex-offender treatment.

After hearing the sentence, MacArthur hugged and kissed his wife, Jennifer, who has also been charged for allegedly having sex on numerous occasions with the same victim.

Jennifer MacArthur, 35, is scheduled to stand trial in March on three similar charges. She declined to comment as she left the courtroom.

e-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com