Indeed, the headline is accurate. A Republican from Utah has escalated the party’s “family values” claim into stark hypocrisy.

In 2024, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, Senator Stuart Adams altered Utah’s consent statutes following his 18-year-old relative’s arrest on four first-degree felony charges for engaging in sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl. Utah’s age of consent is 18, though 14- and 15-year-olds may consent to sexual relations with partners who are less than four years older. However, the girl in question was neither 14 nor 15 and was more than four years younger than the 18-year-old.

The young man was apprehended in 2023 and faced two counts each of child sodomy and child rape. Adams expressed his “surprise” at the harshness of the charges against his family member. Under his amendments to S.B. 213, the legislation now specifies that if “the defendant is 18 years old and enrolled in high school at the time the sexual activity occurred,” they will be charged as a minor instead of as an adult.

The senator asserts that the new law was not intended to be applied retroactively to benefit his family member. However, those involved in the law’s drafting tell a different story. The judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney involved in the case indicated that the relative’s case was a “critical” factor in amending the statute.

Regardless of its retroactive application, the amendment influenced court negotiations, culminating in a plea agreement last week. The 18-year-old could have faced a 25-year sentence and mandatory sex offender registration if not for Adams’ intervention. Instead, by agreeing to plead guilty, he avoided further jail time (having only spent one week incarcerated post-arrest) and registration as a sex offender.

The 13-year-old’s mother learned of the incident during a “random conversation,” as reported by the newspaper, and she reported it to the police with her child’s consent. Additional court documents revealed that a friend of the 18-year-old also alerted the police. The mother conveyed to the media that she felt “punched in the gut” when the law was altered unexpectedly.

“I believe the law should apply equally, no matter who you are,” she remarked. “But that clearly wasn’t the case here.”

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