A man has been sentenced to serve five consecutive felonies after pleading guilty to raping his severely disabled stepdaughter.
Brian Kenneth Urban, 52, received the sentence in West Jordan District Court in Utah on Friday, two weeks after the adult victim died suddenly. He includes five years to life in prison for each of his two rape convictions, and 1 to 15 years each for three counts of forcible sexual abuse.
Five weeks earlier, the suspect pleaded guilty to the five charges against him, after the girl’s mother’s cameras filmed him committing the atrocities to monitor his deterioration.
Identified as Ashley Vigil, 31, the victim had a rare disorder called Rett syndrome, a genetic condition that affects brain development in fewer than 1,000 people in the U.S. The mutation almost exclusively affects girls, tormenting them. with diseases that require rounds. -Take care of the watch.
It is in this state that Urban took advantage of her, leading him to claim before a judge on Friday how his male biology led him to rape the late victim.
Brian Kenneth Urban, 52, received the sentence in West Jordan District Court in Utah on Friday, two weeks after the adult victim died suddenly. He is seen here telling a judge that elevated testosterone levels led him to rape the late victim.
Identified as Ashley Vigil, 31, the victim had a rare disorder called Rett syndrome, a genetic condition that affects brain development in fewer than 1,000 Americans. The mutation almost exclusively affects girls, tormenting them with illnesses that require 24-hour care.
“It’s obvious that my testosterone levels were elevated,” he said as he took the stand, according to CBS’ KUTV.
He continued; “During this horrible event I was in a dreamlike state where reality seemed like a dream.”
“Still today I would never believe this was really possible.”
The heinous event the suspect is referring to occurred in October 2022, and came after a doctor recommended the victim’s mother install cameras in her bedroom to monitor the mysterious seizures she had been having.
Instead of getting anything close to what was happening, cameras caught Urban in the act, exposing his behavior to all.
He was quickly arrested and convicted in October of the following year.
Immediately After the discovery, when Ashley was still alive, her mother and her full-time carer, Paula Vigil, campaigned to pass a new law that would help protect vulnerable adults in the same way as children and the elderly.
By presenting possible guidance as ‘Ashley’s Law’, Paula came up with this to address the fact that there is no mandatory prison sentence for her daughter’s rapist, so she didn’t know how long he would be behind bars.
It is in this state that Urban took advantage of her, leading to him receiving a sentence of at least 13 years on Friday.
The girl’s mother, Paula Vigil, described what she witnessed in the heartbreaking images last month, days before her daughter died suddenly.
“He had to completely undress her, move her to the couch and take off her diaper to do what he did,” she said at the time, while Ashley, seen on the right, died suddenly, more than a year after being raped. ‘Then he had to dress her and put her back in her bed’
Immediately after the discovery, Paula campaigned to pass a new law that would help protect vulnerable adults like Ashley in the same way that children and the elderly do, after discovering there was no mandatory sentence for her attacker.
A demonstration seen outside the courthouse on Friday showed his continued devotion to this and how he has built support over the past year and a half.
They all came to support the family’s fight to change the laws currently in place in the state of Utah, producing signs stating “Justice for Ashley” and Rett Syndrome. [isn’t] an election’.
More than a year earlier, it was revealed that due to her condition, Ashley was unable to walk, talk, and most importantly, defend herself.
After Urban pleaded guilty to the five felony charges against him, Paula lamented how Ashley, then alive, suffered seizures just before the assault.
“His seizures had suddenly increased,” he said. KUTVremembering how he had a hard time eating and was losing weight.
At that point, he said, the doctor recommended installing a camera in Ashley’s bedroom to see when seizures occurred, but what he saw was much worse than he ever imagined.
“Instead of having seizures, I caught him,” Paula told the station, reiterating: “In her condition, she [Ashley] I can not move.
She continued: ‘He had to completely undress her, move her to the couch and take off her nappy to do what he did. Then he had to dress her and put her back on the bed.
A demonstration seen outside the courthouse on Friday showed how his continued devotion to this and how he has garnered support over the past year and a half.
They all came to support the family’s fight to change the laws currently in place in the state of Utah, producing signs stating “Justice for Ashley” and Rett Syndrome. [isn’t] an election’
More than a year earlier, it was revealed that due to her condition, Ashley was unable to walk, talk, and most importantly, defend herself.
After the discovery, Paula called the police to inform her husband, leading to his arrest and widespread media attention.
When she pleaded guilty, both she and her daughter were facing what she said were consequences caused by repeated abuse, claiming the seizures were the result of Ashley’s body screaming for help amid alleged assaults that went unrecorded. .
She has grown to about the size of an eight-year-old girl. “She can’t communicate,” she said at the time.
“His body was convulsing and he was screaming for help in the only way he could. If it wasn’t for those cameras, he would never have known and would never have had proof.’
After hearing the sentencing on Friday, Paula celebrated the work of the state’s attorneys and presiding jurists, but added that she wishes Utah’s law took more time.
In doing so, he redoubled his continued fight for ‘Ashley’s Law’, less than a month after Ashley passed away on March 16.
He said he hopes to see a bill to be known as “Ashley’s Law” in the next legislative session.
Urban’s sentence, which should be at least 13 years, will begin immediately, authorities said.
“I want to give the judge, the prosecutor and the police… they did everything they could under the current laws, they gave me the best justice possible,” Vigil told Fox 13 after the ruling.
“Ashley’s Law would make the mandatory minimum prison sentences the same as if it were a child or an elderly woman,” he explained.
“Their lives are hard enough, things should be easier, taking care of them should be easier, they should be protected.”
Urban’s sentence, which should be at least 13 years, will begin immediately.