Danny P Pitcher

Sources

1. Coach gets maximum term for sexual abuse of players, Deseret News, February 2, 2000.

• 1. Coach gets maximum term for sexual abuse of players

  • 2 Feb 2000
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  • Deseret News

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  PROVO -- A former youth sports coach who admitted to sexually abusing boys he coached was sentenced Wednesday to spend at least 15 years in prison.

  Danny P. Pitcher, 46, Provo, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony. Pitcher committed sex acts on a 13-year-old boy in Pitcher's home, prosecutors said.In court Wednesday, Pitcher asked 4th District Judge Ray M. Harding Sr. for leniency in sentencing because Pitcher had no previous criminal convictions. Pitcher's attorney also said the boy and other victims "did voluntarily participate" in sex acts with Pitcher.

  But prosecutor Matt Jube objected to defense attorney Shannon Demler's characterization of the abuse.

  "I don't think it's fair to say these acts were voluntary, given the victims' age and the position of trust" Pitcher was in, Jube said.

  Pitcher may not have prior convictions for sex abuse, but the abuse happened over several years with several victims, Jube said. Victims abused by Pitcher years ago have been "coming out of the woodwork" since charges were filed, Jube said.

  Pitcher coached youth football and baseball in Utah County. Although Demler said Pitcher did not threaten boys with physical harm if they refused to submit to the abuse, prosecutors pointed to his position as a coach to justify their argument for the maximum sentence.

  "For a coach to inflict this kind of abuse on young men who trusted him is particularly insidious," Jube said.

  Harding agreed. The judge ordered Pitcher to serve two concurrent prison sentences, imposing the stiffest penalty possible when he gave Pitcher the minimum-mandatory of 15 years to life. The judge could have chosen a minimum of six or 10 years.

  "The court was shocked to read the extent of involvement of the defendant with young men who were placed in his care," Harding said.

  Pitcher, who appeared in court wearing a hooded jacket and athletic warm-up suit, was ordered to report for incarceration by Friday. He cried when addressing the judge.

  "What I did was wrong," Pitcher said. "I feel sorry for the victims and their families."