CEDAR CITY — A 20-year-old Cedar City man who pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a 16-year-old girl has been sentenced to one year in jail, followed by four years of zero-tolerance probation.
Camden Ridge Swenson was sentenced in 5th District Court on July 15 by Judge Matthew L. Bell.
Swenson was arrested on Sept. 20, 2023 following an Iron County Sheriff’s Office investigation wherein a video containing nude images of a juvenile girl were found on Swenson’s phone.
“Camden admitted to being sexually active with a female who was 16 years old at the time of the encounter,” the arresting deputy wrote in the probable cause affidavit filed in support of Swenson’s arrest.
“Camden admitted to manufacturing the video while having a sexual conversation with the juvenile over a video call,” the statement added.
Swenson originally faced six charges, including aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony, and sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; in addition to four lesser charges related to furnishing alcohol and tobacco to a minor.
Although Swenson had pleaded not guilty to all six charges in February, on May 13, he pleaded guilty to the single second-degree count of sexual exploitation of a minor, upon which the other five charges were dismissed as part of a negotiated plea agreement.
During his sentencing hearing on July 15, Swenson apologized in court, saying he was ashamed of his actions.
“My actions have hurt people and that was not acceptable,” Swenson said, adding that if there was a way to undo the past, “I would jump on the opportunity to correct those actions.”
File photo of Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 17, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
“I only wish to prove to my family and the court and the community that I do want to be better than I was doing,” he added. “I was young, dumb, naive, arrogant and self-serving. I know I can do better. I do not want to be that person ever again, and will do anything to be better, if given the chance to do so.”
Swenson also told the court he had embarked on a better path for himself by participating in addiction recovery program and reading scriptures and other inspirational books.
However, later during the hearing, a young woman came forward and tearfully spoke out against Swenson, saying that she has lost countless hours of sleep due to her fears of him lurking nearby, even after his incarceration.
“What Camden has done has grabbed me forever,” she said, adding, “He held on to these videos of me for over a year even after we broke up.”
“She’s now terrified that he’s outside of our house all the time, even though he’s still in jail,” added the woman’s mother, who said that even though she thought Swenson seemed like a “nice young man” when her daughter first introduced him, it didn’t take long for red flags to start appearing.
“Nothing will change,” the former girlfriend’s mother told the court. “This man will always be a predator.”
“You asked for a victim impact statement, so here it is,” the woman added. “I don’t see it stopping Camden from hurting another child.”
As he imposed the sentence, Bell said he would go ahead with the recommendations as stipulated in the plea agreement but warned Swenson that any parole violations could result in a 1-to-15 year term in prison.
Stock image of Fifth District Courthouse, Cedar City, Utah, June 8, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
“It’s not something anyone’s trying to set you up to fail, but just know that I won’t have any patience if you come back before me on probation violations,” Bell said. “ I’m going to treat this as zero tolerance going forward.”
Swenson was ordered to serve 364 days in Iron County Jail, with credit given for the 10 months that he has already served. Upon his release from jail in September, he will be placed on probation for a period of 48 months, to be supervised by Adult Probation and Parole.
In addition to being listed on the state’s sex offender registry, Swenson is to have no contact with minors who are not family members, the judge ordered. He must also complete any recommended mental health and substance abuse treatment as determined by AP&P, and abide by all other standard probation terms.
Citing an ongoing protective order that is already in place, Bell also ordered Swenson to have no further contact or communication with the victim in the case, nor her family.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.