Man charged with forcible sex abuse for nurse groping pleads guilty, gets 6 months

(Original Post 10-11-09)
A man accompanying his wife to a Utah hospital missed the birth of his child because he was being booked for fondling the nurse who took care of his baby's mother.

Adam Jay Manning was charged with forcible sex abuse, a Class 2 felony in Utah, for fondling and grabbing the nurse. The incident started at 3 AM October 9, when Manning brought a pregnant woman in labor to Mackay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, UT. Manning made a comment about how cute the nurse was, but the nurse ignored him, attending to the woman in labor.

Manning, according to Ogden police lieutenant Loren Draper, told the nurse that something was wrong with her neck, which was a pretense for him to grab her breast and fondle her neck. The nurse pushed Manning away, moved to the other side of the wheelchair, and reported the incident to police, leading to charges.

Manning pleaded guilty in February 2008 to shoplifting, a class B misdemeanor, and was sentenced to a year of probation that included classes at New Horizons, a mental health and substance abuse treatment center. In June, Manning pleaded guilty to criminal mischief, also a class B misdemeanor. He was sentenced to fines and a year of probation, which he allegedly violated -- a judge issued a warrant for his arrest Sept. 14, court records show.

Draper said it was unclear whether the woman Manning brought to the hospital was a girlfriend or wife, but one thing was abundantly clear - "Obviously, he wasn't there for the birth of the child."

(Update 9-4-10) Last month, Manning received 6 months in jail after pleading guilty June 15 to attempted forcible sex abuse. 2nd District Judge Scott Hadley sentenced Manning on August 10, 2010 to serve the term in the Weber County Jail, and ordered Manning undergo sex, mental health, and substance abuse counseling.

Defense attorney Randall Marshall argued that Manning's action was a rare situation accompanied by a blackout, which Manning is prone to suffer because of brain damage from a Jeep accident 10 years ago.

"He touched her over the clothing. There was no violence, no force," Marshall said. "That doesn't come close to some of the sexual offenses we see ... 180 days in jail seems a little heavy." Marshall asked for 120 days, noting Manning's lack of prior similar crimes, saying he touched the woman twice "and that was the end of it."

Arguing the other side of the same coin, Deputy Weber County Attorney Branden Miles said "precisely because there was a blackout, we don't know that it won't happen again. He continues to pose a danger until it's figured out."

One thing which won't be blacked out is Manning's listing in the sex offender registry.