ML man sentenced to 11 months for rape of juvenile family member

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man who pleaded guilty to rape of a juvenile family member has received a 53.5 month sentence, reduced to 11 months as part of a Special Sex Offender Sentence Alternative barring any violations of sentencing conditions.

Sage Rutherford Utter, 24, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 on one count of first-degree incest and two counts of third-degree rape of a child in relation to a October 2018 incident involving Utter and a juvenile family member. The victim told police that the abuse had taken place over the course of a decade.

Though Utter eventually admitted to the most recent sexual encounter to police, he claimed at the time that he had been blackmailed into doing so by the victim.

Court records show that Utter also experienced sexual assault at the hands of a family member when he was younger. 

As part of the SSOSA agreement, Utter will be placed under community custody for just over two years after he is released from jail. He will also have to register as a sex offender and undergo sex offender treatment for five years.