By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A child rape trial held in Juab County ended with a verdict of guilty.
George Ring was found guilty on two charges after a two-day jury trial held in Fourth District County on April 1 and 2.
Ring was charged with a first degree felony of Rape of a Child and also a misdemeanor Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.
Ring will be sentenced June 2.
The Rape of a Child conviction is a mandatory 25 years to life.
The evidence presented during the trial showed that Mr. Ring raped a 3-year-old girl on February 23, 2014 in Nephi.
"In this case Nephi City Police Capt. Bert Wright did an outstanding job building this case," said Jared Eldridge, Juab County attorney.
On February 23, the young victim disclosed to her mother that the boyfriend of one of their neighbors had touched her inappropriately.
Later an interview was conducted at the Children's Justice Center where the 3-year-old victim described sexual conduct that amounted to rape and identified Ring as the perpetrator.
"As the investigation unfolded, Capt. Wright discovered that Mr. Ring had been convicted twice before of sexually abusing children in 1998 and 1995, both convictions were in Colorado and due to the convictions Mr. Ring was required by the State of Colorado to register with the state sex offender registry as well as with any sex offender registry of any state where he spent significant time," said Eldridge.
Capt. Wright was able to locate both the previous victims in Colorado who came to Nephi to offer testimony during Ring's trial.
"As you can imagine, the testimony of the prior victims was emotional and powerful," said Eldridge.
The trial testimony indicated that Ring was not a local resident but that he came to spend time in Nephi when he met a local Nephi woman through online dating.
Over a period of months Ring developed a romantic relationship with the local woman and would visit her, his girlfriend, on his days off from being a long haul truck driver. He would spend time at her apartment.
During one of these visits, while his girlfriend was away from the apartment, Ring abused a 3-year-old neighbor girl.
Prison is mandatory and the statutory sentence is a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life.
Tuesday, Fourth District Judge Jennifer Brown is likely to impose the sentence required by law.
