Farson Man Sentenced On Sex Offenses

Judge Richard Lavery passed sentence Thursday in District Court in Green River on a Farson man convicted in May for crimes committed against a minor,  according to a spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Department

Dick Blust says 35 year old Marty Rhodes was found guilty at trial on May 21 of Child Abuse and Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Third Degree, both felonies.The case’s lead investigator, Detective Jeff Sheaman, testified for the prosecution. No defense witnesses were called.

Deputy County Attorney Suzannah Gambell, who prosecuted Rhodes at trial, described him as a “manipulator” and an “evil man” and asked for the maximum penalty on both charges. Under state statute, the maximum penalty for Child Abuse is five years of imprisonment; for Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Third Degree the maximum is 15 years.

Rhodes’s attorney, Kent Brown, asked that his client be granted probation. Though he did not take the stand, Rhodes told the court he was concerned about who would take care of his ill mother.  Lavery sentenced Rhodes to imprisonment for not less than four and not more than five years for the Child Abuse charge, and a minimum of 13 years and not more than 15 years for Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Third Degree, and ordered that the sentences be served consecutively.

Rhodes will receive credit for 476 days already served.