Judge Thomas Low of Provo ignited a firestorm in 2017 when he referred to a convicted rapist as an “extraordinarily good man” during the sentencing hearing.
The apparent dichotomy between extraordinarily good men and rapists is difficult for Utah judges and prosecutors to comprehend, because in their minds, one can simultaneously be an extraordinarily good man and a rapist. It’s an illogical contortion worthy of Schrödinger, but rapists and extraordinarily good men occupying the same body is nothing new to Utah.
Box Elder County Deputy Sheriff Scott Womack pulled over motorists in order to check females for tattoos that he claimed were described in arrest warrants. The warrants didn’t exist.
Utah State University Chief of Police Earl Morris told USU athletes that women could falsely tell church leaders that sexual encounters were non-consensual, thereby triggering an investigation by the police. The Title IX investigator tasked with looking into a sexual assault allegation at USU told the victim that it would be easier if she simply left the school after her assault, which resulted in a lawsuit against USU.
“If you’re not used to a Mormon community, folks, I’m here to tell you, the Latter-day Saints community — young ladies, they may have sex with you. I don’t know if they’re going to have guilt afterwards, but they’re going to go talk to their minister, their bishop, priest, whatever you want to call it,” Morris said as some players laughed.
“He’s going to say, was it consensual?" he continued. "I can tell you that oftentimes it’s easier to say, no, no, no, that wasn’t consensual. And then what happens? Now there’s an investigation.”
-Earl Morris, former USU Chief of Police
Kaytriauna Flint received a $500,000 settlement from USU, and her friend Patrick Maddox, a USU football player, received a $150,000 settlement after the coaching staff and administration retaliated against him for releasing recordings of coaches disparaging rape victims and telling their players that they would work with them to beat any criminal charges. Maddox was accused of betraying the team, and eventually left USU altogether.
Shortly before Flint and Maddox received their settlements, another USU athlete was arrested for rape. USU student Victoria Hewlett was raped and beaten at a fraternity party by a USU student with a history of violent sexual assaults against other females, and USU did not expel or suspend him. Hewlett obtained a $250,000 settlement. Between 2016 and 2021, USU had 44 reported rapes on campus.
The accused were undoubtedly extraordinarily good men who did bad things, just like former bishop Keith Robert Vallejo was when he stood before Judge Thomas Low for sentencing. Vallejo repeatedly forcibly sexually abused two women who were living in his home.
Given the fact that rape victims have to navigate law enforcement professionals such as USU Chief of Police Earl Morris and judges like Thomas Low, it’s no wonder that the rape reporting rate is low.
You are not safe from the Government Sex Predators and their allies in the courtroom and the police department, or the predators they enable in your communities. Their warped view of rape is simple: extraordinarily good men can occasionally rape women by mistake. Judge Thomas Low remains on the bench in Provo. USU’s head football coach Blake Anderson kept his job after saying “it has never been more glamorized to be a victim” of sexual assault during the meeting with his players, three of whom were arrested in successive years for sexual assault. Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen summed up his department’s position thusly: “[W]e want you guys to play ball. That’s what we want. We want you guys to play good ball. That’s what we want. And we will work with you to the best of our ability.”
The Logan Police Department and the USU Police Department worked with perpetrators to the best of their ability, instead of working with victims. In a state where a district judge refers to a convicted rapist as an extraordinarily good man during sentencing, what else would you expect?