ST. GEORGE — A 40-year-old Ivins man, required to register as a sex offender for life, was sentenced after officers found him driving a vehicle with four juvenile girls in the car last month.
Scott David Mock appeared in 5th District Court Nov. 7 for what was scheduled to be a preliminary waiver hearing on a misdemeanor sex offender in the presence of child charge, but instead, he pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced.
Under the terms of the plea deal, the state agreed to reduce the charge from a class A misdemeanor to a class B misdemeanor offense, and instead of sentencing the defendant to serve 180 days in jail, he was given credit for 20 days already served and ordered to complete 12 months probation with a private company and pay a $500 fine.
The hearing was concluded when District Judge John J. Walton signed an order for Mock to be released from custody.
Mock was not released from jail though. Washington County Prosecutor Jerry Jaeger told St. George News the defendant is a Nevada sex offender, and after the courts to the south got wind of the arrest, they issued a warrant for Mock’s arrest, meaning he will remain in jail until he is extradited back to Nevada to answer to the charges there.
“He was under an interstate compact agreement between Nevada and Utah when the offense took place,” Jaeger said. “And now that his case is resolved in here, Nevada is getting him back.”
The sentence stems from an incident Oct. 15 when a Santa Clara-Ivins Police Officer stopped a vehicle going 40 mph in a 25 mph zone shortly after 10 p.m. While speaking with the driver, identified as Mock, the officer observed four juvenile girls in the vehicle, three 14-year-olds and one 12-year-old, according to the probable cause statement filed in support of Mock’s arrest.
A records check revealed the defendant was a lifetime sexual offender out of Nevada, the report says. Police then contacted the probation officer assigned to his case and learned Mock was not allowed to be within 1,000 feet of anywhere juveniles under the age of 18 gather, nor was he allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 in his vehicle without written permission from his probation officer — which the defendant admittedly did not have.
The lifetime sex offender registry requirement stems from two Nevada cases where Mock was convicted of felony lewdness with a child under the age of 14 in April 2003. Three months later he was convicted of attempted sexual assault against a child under the age of 14, also a felony, on July 24, 2003.
After being caught with the girls in his car, Mock was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked and held on $1,950 bail. The charge was filed two days later by the Washington County Attorney’s Office and the defendant posted bond Oct. 23 and was released from jail.
The following day, authorities received a warrant issued out of Nevada for his arrest, at which time he was taken into custody and transported to jail for a second time, where he remains currently.
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