SALT LAKE CITY — An advocate for victims of sex crimes believes the justice system was too lenient on an admitted sex offender.
Douglas Eugene Saltsman of Sandy pleaded guilty to three felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators said they discovered more than 13,000 images of child pornography on his electronic devices.
Saltsman faced one to 15 years in prison for each of the charges.
Instead, Saltsman received a punishment of 210 days in jail. After receiving credit for time already served, he will spend about two more months behind bars.
“I was horrified when I heard about this case,” said Cathy Hoffman, a survivor of sex trafficking who now is working to give a voice to victims of sex abuse. “It’s horror. You’re horrified something like this can exist.”
Due to the graphic nature and volume of illegal files found in Saltsman’s possession, Hoffman believes the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
“It’s a green light to do whatever you want,” Hoffman said. “For every victim that has gone through something like that, it’s a slap in the face. It’s a slap in the face.”
Hoffman organized an online petition calling for Judge Douglas Hogan, the judge who handed down the sentence, to be held accountable. As of Sunday evening, the petition had the backing of more than 13,000 people.
“I have a great respect for the justice system when it does what it is supposed to do,” Hoffman said. “Children are the future and when you don’t give them a voice or justice, you’re taking that future away from them.”
The Utah Attorney General’s office investigated and prosecuted the case. In a statement, they said:
"The sentence is 1 to 15 years, but commitment to prison is not mandatory. The prosecutor stipulated to the sentence imposed by the court because it was the presumptive sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines (probation plus jail of 0 to 210 days with 105 days of jail as the mid-point).
"This is not unusual for cases like this.
"For a second degree felony unless there was physical violence or a live victim instead of images of child pornography with unknown children, this was a standard sentence."
That shows Cathy, this issue is deeper than this one case and one judge. She wants to inspire system-wide changes in how these sex offenders are punished.
“Nothing is going to change unless someone speaks up,” Hoffman said. “I want to take it to the state legislature, saying, 'Look, there are 12,000 people standing behind me. This is a problem, you need to fix this.'”
Utah does not have an avenue for a recall election for a judge.
Judge Hogan received a 97% positive recommendation score in his most recent retention evaluation published by the Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission.
