Former Heber City assisted-living worker Jayden Parker Sever, 20, has been sentenced to prison for performing sexual acts on two residents of Spring Gardens Senior Living against their will. Sever pleaded guilty to two first degree state felonies of object rape and attempted rape at Heber District Court in December. Wednesday, Sever was sentenced to five years to life for the crime of object rape and three years to life for attempted rape. Between Feb. 1 and March 6, 2024, Sever attempted to engage in sexual acts with two residents. P.M., 82, was a resident of the facility’s memory care unit. She suffered from Alzheimer’s-related impairments. W.R., 85, was also a resident in the memory care unit due to mental impairments from dementia. Court documents indicate that neither victim was able to function independently due to the state of their mental faculties. Becky Mossman, one of the victim’s family members, said that she visited her mother in the care facility daily. During the time when the incident occurred, Mossman said her mother started acting differently. “I couldn’t figure out why she was so upset,” Mossman said. “She wasn’t sleeping.”Mossman encouraged Judge Jennifer A. Mabey to impose a stricter sentence because she believed Sever could repeat the offenses.“He could do it to anybody,” Mossman said. Defense Attorney Clint Hendricks said that Sever received a low risk assessment due to his age and his lack of criminal history. Hendricks explained that because Sever was under the influence of THC at the time of the incidents, his critical thinking was impaired. Sever, he said, also never tried to shift the blame away from himself and had self-reported, knowing that he would be arrested. “He has the option of treatment both in prison and out of prison. The difference between those two is that if he gets all of his treatment in prison, he will spend all of his formative years only associating with people at high intensive risk,” Hendricks said. “Jayden is going to be a felon and a sex offender for the rest of his life.”Sever declined to address the court.Mabey explained that relevant parties might be looking for a “certain sense of justice” and that there is a deterrent effect that the court might be attempting to achieve, “not just for Mr. Sever in this case, but society as a whole.” “I have said on many occasions … I find that sentencing is probably one of the most difficult things that I am required to do in this position,” Mabey said. “I think sentencing is difficult because there are some cases that no matter what the sentence is, it doesn’t fix the issue.”Mabey also said that she needed to balance the appropriate penalty for such actions.“The nature of these crimes and the circumstances under which they occurred and the impact on the victims and the victims families is significant,” Mabey said. “At the end of the day, your time in prison will allow you to come to terms with the fact that you have had consequences for your actions.”In response to Hendrick’s statement about Sever spending time around high risk individuals, Mabey encouraged Sever to “use this time productively.”“I would strongly encourage you to choose a path that helps you grow and come out of prison as a better person,” Mabey said. “That choice is up to you.”The post Former assisted-living worker sentenced to prison after felony sex convictions appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less