CEDAR CITY — A 54-year-old man who pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor has been sentenced to prison.
Stephen Jay Cooper of Saratoga Springs was sentenced in Cedar City by 5th District Judge Matthew L. Bell on May 20, six days before Cooper’s 54th birthday.
Calling the case “especially troubling,” Bell ordered Cooper to serve 0-5 years in Utah State Prison for the two third-degree felonies to which he had pleaded guilty. The sentences will be allowed to run concurrently, the judge ordered. How long Cooper ultimately spends in prison will be determined by the Utah Board of Pardons.
Although the probable cause statement and charging documents associated with the case were sealed at the time they were filed on Nov. 3, 2023, prosecutors said the case involved a sting operation wherein Cooper allegedly began chatting online with an undercover officer in Cedar City who was posing as a 16-year-old girl.
Cooper allegedly sent sexually explicit videos and images to the undercover decoy officer and tried to get her to travel to the Salt Lake area to engage in sexual acts with him.
Cooper pleaded guilty on April 8 to the two third-degree felony counts. A third charge of enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor, was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
During Cooper’s sentencing hearing, defense attorney Steven Nielsen noted his client’s lack of prior criminal history.
“These are his first charges ever,” Nielsen said. “He’s lived a relatively comfortable life.”
Nielsen also pointed out that it was fortunate that no actual child was involved.
“For all intents and purposes, this is how individuals do initiate and get in contact with minors that are on the internet,” he said. “We all know that it is a terrible place where terrible things can happen. So, your honor, I don’t want to undermine this or dismiss this as a fact that he was communicating with someone over the age of 18.”
Nielsen said as Cooper’s marriage had been falling apart in recent years, he found himself in “a very dark situation.”
“In no way does that justify his actions,” Nielsen said, later adding, “In no way are we trying to say that justifies what he did, because what he did is, frankly, atrocious.”
Nielsen said Cooper has been doing much soul-searching since his incarceration.
“Over the past several months that he’s been in jail, he’s been reading, he’s been trying to find spiritual healing, spiritual and mental healing for himself,” Nielsen told the judge. “Because he knows at some point, regardless of what the court orders today, he still has a lot of life left to live and he can still contribute to society. He’s got a lot of talents. He’s got a lot of opportunities. I think that he can progress beyond this once he pays his debt to society for what he’s done.”
Cooper himself addressed the judge later, saying he believed he was being “catfished” by an adult pretending to be a minor.
“I thought that this person was older and was just role-playing,” he said. “I should have terminated immediately, obviously. I made a severe mistake. I in no way would have had any intent to follow through on the chat.”
Judge Bell responded, saying,”Let’s just assume that you really weren’t chatting with adults. Why would you then start having these kinds of deviant discussions and bring in one of your own family members? Whether it’s a juvenile on the other end or another adult, there’s a serious problem with that, right?”
Prosecutor Shane Klenk then addressed the court and asked that Cooper be given prison time, as recommended in the presentence investigation report.
“The state concurs with that recommendation,” Klenk said, adding, “The reason for this recommendation is the egregious nature of these crimes. They’re extremely troubling. The PSI does not do justice to the pages and pages of vile filth the defendant was willing to send to who he thought was a juvenile girl. He also sent nude images of himself. It is clear that this crime cannot have been an isolated incident. One cannot read the content of his messages and come to the conclusion that he is new to this behavior. Rather, it is representative of the defendant’s sexual addiction. It is clear the defendant has been seeking deviant gratification at the expense of juveniles for a long time.”
Added Klenk:
Also troubling is the defendant’s minimization of his conduct and his lack of remorse and accountability. The defendant claims he knew he was chatting with an adult. He claims he was foolish and naive and headed down a dark path, as though this behavior is somewhat new and the wrong turn down this dark path somewhat recent. In reality, the defendant has been on this highway and ensconced in this behavior for decades. The defendant pretends he is reformed after a few short months of prayer and exercise. The victim impact statement written by the defendant’s wife paints a different picture.
Although Klenk initially said during the hearing that Cooper’s soon-to-be ex-wife did not want to testify, she then stood up from the back row of the courtroom and said she’d changed her mind.
“Basically, this has been an ongoing problem in his marriage, and my marriage with him for 25 years,” Lauren Cooper told the court during her brief statement. “So when he says his marriage fell apart and that’s what drove him to do this, that’s not accurate. His marriage fell apart because of this ongoing issue of him going outside of our marriage.”
During his argument, Klenk had also called Stephen Cooper “narcissistic and a con artist.”
“Perhaps the most successful con has been the one he’s performed on himself,” Klenk said,
“It is true that the defendant will eventually be released, but there is value in determining that some behavior will not be tolerated and assigning the maximum consequence that is allowable by law,” Klenk said. “The defendant surely does need treatment, but it seems that he cannot help but leave a wake of destruction with his choices in his life. That treatment should be received at the Utah State Prison.”
Judge Bell concurred with the state as he handed down the sentence, saying, “Something that concerns me, Mr. Cooper, is that this is not just some crime of opportunity.”
“You sought out multiple conversations and had very harmful deviant discussions and sent harmful images to who you were hoping was an underage girl and specifically tried to arrange encounters,” Bell added. “That is very dangerous to vulnerable members of our society.”
“Unfortunately, you went so far as to even include in these inappropriate conversations, these terrible conversations and allude to some of your own family members,” Bell said. “That is especially troubling.
“Again, this wasn’t a crime of opportunity that found you and you got caught up in it or made a wrong turn. You went looking anyway, deep down that rabbit hole.”
The court waived all fines and fees except for the mandatory $106 court security fee and told Cooper of his right to appeal.
Cooper has since been transferred to Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison to begin serving his sentence.
Shortly after the sentencing, Iron County Attorney’s Office issued a brief statement saying:
Cooper’s conviction and sentence comes in a line of recent successful stings involving internet crimes against children. Our local law enforcement has worked tirelessly to detect and apprehend individuals who prey on children online. The Iron County Attorney’s Office will continue to argue and advocate for tough sentences in these disturbing cases.
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