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West Jordan • A jury on Thursday resumed deliberations in the case of a former Canyons School District bus driver accused of sexual abuse for allegedly touching two of his young female passengers.
John Martin Carrell, 62, is on trial in 3rd District Court on 33 counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Twenty-three of the counts are tied to alleged acts with the girl in the first of two set of videos. Another 10 counts are related to a second girl.
If he is convicted of the crimes, the grandfather of 22 could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The jury of three men and five women began deliberating at about 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, and broke for the night just after 7 p.m..
Jurors returned to court at about 8 a.m. Thursday and continued their deliberations.
At noon, the jury ordered lunch, indicating they were still actively discussing the case.
Carrell's alleged victims are two Altara Elementary School students who were both 5-years-old when the alleged offenses took place in March and April 2014.
Trial testimony from one of the girls — that Carrell daily touched her "peepee" under her clothes — is allegedly supported by video evidence that shows him nuzzling the girl and hold her between his legs as he sits in his seat and lingering over her as he helps her in and out of her seat.
With most children, Carrell needed only three to four seconds to get them in and out of the safety harnesses on the bus, but video time stamps show he spent up to 10 times longer with his first alleged victim, Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Nathan Evershed told jurors in closing arguments.
The videos provide "proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Evershed said. "All of that is corroboration."
He said the pattern is the same with the second girl, who has been diagnosed with autism and could not be interviewed by police.
"With [the second child] it's 101 seconds," Evershed said.
The Salt Lake Tribune does not identify juveniles or adults who are the alleged victims of sexual abuse, so the children are not being named.
Defense Attorney Ron Yengich contends that prosecutors and other well-meaning adults, including the loving parents of both girls, have got it wrong.
The videos, he said, are like a movie trailer that misrepresent the entirety of the film.
"It's not a case about corroboration," said Yengich. "We all want to protect children, but we can overstate what they say and over-assume what they mean."
The videos don't show any specific evidence of sexual assault, Yengich contends.
"Not once," he said.
Yengich also noted that the 6-year-old victim told the court that the counselor she met had told her what the "truth is" and told her what to say.
The girl also didn't detail what she meant by statements that Carrell had "made it soft," and no adult asked her to explain, Yengich said.
Yengich told jurors they have to decide if prosecutors have proved "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Carrell's hugs, touches, pats and hair pulls were actions that appeared to fuel sexual desire or gratification and noted that the driver himself never touches himself or asks the girls to touch his genitals.
In his opinion, Yengich said, "there is nothing in those videos that equates with sexual contact."
What the videos do appear to show, Yengich contends — imploring several times for the jury to review each clip carefully — are kids who seem to like and trust the grandfatherly driver.
"The kids are not afraid of him," he said. "These kids love him."
Carrell resigned from his job after he was put on administrative leave in April 2014, in response to the initial abuse allegations.