This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A 40-year-old Logan man accused of forcing a teenage girl to have sex with four teenage boys over a three-year period was sentenced to prison for up to life on Thursday.

Cody C. Smith, 40, pleaded no contest in January in 1st District Court to two counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Judge Brian Cannell sentenced Smith — who once worked as a reserve officer for Logan police and the Cache County Sheriff's Office — to prison for 10 years to life on each count and ordered the terms to run concurrently.

The judge also ordered Smith to pay a $10,000 fine and $1,800 in restitution to the girl for mental health counseling.

Smith was originally charged with ten felony counts of rape, object rape, forcible sexual abuse and aggravated sexual assault.

A January trial on the 10 counts was in its second day when Smith entered the no contest pleas.

According to court documents, in March 2014, a then-15-year-old girl went to police and disclosed that Smith had been forcing her to have sex with her boyfriends beginning in 2011, when she was 13.

The girl told police that in 2011, Smith told her then-13-year-old boyfriend that he should get the girl pregnant, court documents state. Weeks later, Smith allegedly took the teens out for ice cream, then back to his Logan apartment where he instructed them to go to an upstairs room and have sex.

The teen boy told investigators that at that time, he was "LDS and naive" and that Smith came into the room and gave instructions. The girl told police that this happened half a dozen times in 2011 and 2012.

The teen girl told police that the same scenario happened with three other boyfriends between 2013 and 2014. Two of the boys, who were each 16 years old at the time, told police that they went to Smith's apartment with the girl to watch movies and Smith urged them to go upstairs and have sex on multiple occasions, court documents state.

A fourth teen boy told investigators that Smith bought him condoms to use, and between October 2013 and February 2014, he had sex with the girl while Smith stood outside a bedroom door shouting directives at the couple.

Smith also was accused of touching the teen girl's buttocks, genitals and breasts and had choked her to unconsciousness on several occasions, court documents state.

Because Smith previously worked as a reserve police officer, the Utah State University police department investigated the case. Prosecutors have said that none of the alleged crimes occurred when Smith was a law enforcement officer.

Deputy Cache County Attorney Barbara Lachmar said in January that Smith's pleas came a day after several of the underage witnesses had testified before a jury.

"I just think that the defense attorney saw the writing on the wall, that there was a substantial likelihood of conviction," Lachmar said. "It made a lot of sense that he would take a plea agreement. The victim is very young, and we were interested in protecting her."

Lachmar said the teen girl had not yet testified, and was willing to allow Smith to take the plea deal. The prosecutor said that due to the "unusual facts and circumstances" in the case, the teen boys involved also are considered victims.

Defense attorney Susanne Gustin said in January that the case was difficult due to the number of victims and the "bizarre allegations."

"It is hard to overcome a case in which there is a parade of witnesses who do not know each other, all saying the same thing," she said. "Cody did not want to put any more victims through the trauma of testifying. He made the right choice for himself and for the victims."

j