Booking photo for Braxton W. Egbert (Courtesy: Cache County Jail).
LOGAN — A 19-year-old Hyrum man has confessed to molesting his roommate. Braxton Egbert accepted a plea deal that could still send him to prison.
Egbert appeared for a preliminary hearing in 1st District Court Thursday morning. He told the court, he wished to waive his right to the hearing, where a judge would have determined if prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bind him over for trial.
Egbert was arrested in October after deputies learned that he was spying on a 20-year-old man repeatedly, while inappropriately touching himself. He would look through a hole in a bedroom door or use a CD as a mirror, to view the victim changing clothes or using the bathroom. At other times, he would sneak into the man’s bedroom and molest him.
Egbert later told deputies, “he cannot control himself sexually, and needs to be either closely supervised or kept away from other people.” He also described having multiple sexual addictions and problems throughout his life.
In November, Egbert was found competent to stand trial after attorneys requested a mental evaluation. He was ordered to receive treatment while incarcerated.
Earlier this year, prosecutors filed a second case after deputies learned that Egbert allegedly sexually abused his cellmate multiple times. The abuse was reported in January, and the suspect then been placed in a cell all by himself.
During Thursday’s court appearance, Egbert pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; and sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped the remaining 11 charges in the first case and dismissed the second case that included five additional charges.
Outside the courtroom, Cache County Deputy Attorney Dane Murray said the plea deal gave prosecutors everything they will need for sentencing. He explained that since Egbert confessed to the three charges in the first case, he and investigators didn’t see the reason to go forward with the second case.
Egbert is being held in jail without bail. He is schedule to be sentenced March 23 and could face up to 15-years in prison.
will@cvradio.com