Article - May 3, 2008 - Daily Herald

A.F. chiropractor a no-show for sentencing

By Jeremy Duda

It may be awhile before Grant Joel Hildreth has to begin serving his sentence for forcible sex abuse, but it looks like he may have to spend the interim in the Utah County Jail.

Fourth District Judge David Mortensen issued a no-bail warrant for Hildreth, an American Fork chiropractor who was convicted of sexually abusing a former employee, after he didn't show up for his sentencing hearing on Friday. Had Hildreth shown up, he wouldn't have been sentenced because Adult Probation and Parole requested that the hearing be continued so the agency could have more time to complete a pre-sentencing report.

Carolyn Howard-Morris, Hildreth's defense attorney, had also filed a request for a stay while they await the outcome of an appeal she filed of Hildreth's conviction in March. If the stay is granted, the judge could sentence Hildreth but allow him to remain free until his appeal is finished.

Howard-Morris did not attend Friday's sentencing hearing in American Fork either. Court personnel were unsuccessful in their attempts to reach her by phone.

Prosecutor Alex Ludlow said Hildreth, 45, of Riverton, was supposed to report to APP by March 27, but he did not show up until April 3, which may have been partly responsible for APP's delay in completing Hildreth's pre-sentence report.

"It would seem to indicate that he's not taking this as seriously" as he should, Ludlow said.

Ludlow also said he feels that Hildreth is a potential flight risk.

"I think the state has some concerns based on some of his earlier actions," he said.

Hildreth was convicted in 1992 of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Beaverhead County, Mont. According to news reports, the sexual contact with the teenage girl occurred in 1989, but he was not charged with a crime until about two years later, when the victim's father found a letter she wrote to a friend about the assault.

Full story