Man sentenced for sexual assault of 13-year-old girl
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IDAHO FALLS — A 44-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday after refusing to admit guilt following a conviction by a jury for lewd conduct with a child.
District Judge Bruce Pickett sentenced Shane Alan Cady to 10 to 40 years in prison.
Cady pleaded not guilty to lewd conduct with a child under 16. On May 15, after a three-day trial, a jury found Cady guilty.
RELATED | Jury convicts man of lewd conduct after three-day trial
Pickett extended a no-contact order between Cady, the victim and the victim’s family for at least 35 years.
Cady will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Sentencing
“It seems that, theoretically, a lot of things happen, but they’re never his fault.”
Cady was noticeably agitated during sentencing, staring forward during the entire hearing, never turning to look during the victim impact statements or the prosecution’s arguments.
Jason Gustaves, Cady’s defense attorney, told the court he was prepared to argue on Cady’s behalf but stated that Cady had asked him not to.
“In discussion with Mr. Cady, he wishes me to submit to the court on the record that has been presented to the court, and not to make any argument or mitigation or recommendation to this court,” said Gustaves. “Defense counsel is prepared to proceed and address those issues; however, at the client’s request, we submit to the court for its discretion.”
Pickett later asked Cady if he was satisfied with Gustaves’ representation, to which he responded, “No.”
Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Lou Harris argued that Cady refuses to take responsibility for his actions, citing multiple examples of him reportedly facing a consequence and blaming other people.
“Each time I read the reports in this case, I considered the words of a singer-songwriter, political satirist Phil Collins, as he was on the verge of losing his fourth wife,” said Harris. “He said, ‘I started to think, maybe it’s me.'”
According to Harris, in 2000, Cady claimed a former wife reported abuse because she was “mad” and wanted to “get him in trouble.” In 2012, he was again accused of abuse, but no evidence was found.
“In 2019, an ex-girlfriend assaulted him, he called the police, but he was blamed,” said Harris. “So it seems that, theoretically, a lot of things happen, but they’re never his fault.”
Harris also told the court that Cady served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was dishonorably discharged.
“We see defendants in here come in day in and day out, that are willing to lie to the court, lie to counsel, whatever it takes to remain free,” said Harris. “I think the worst lie that one tells would be the lie they tell themselves, when they’re unable to accept the consequences of their own actions.”
Harris then recommended five to 30 years in prison.
Multiple victim impact statements were read by the victim and her family, detailing the traumatic impact the abuse left on their family dynamic, mental health and way of life.
“He was a friend of the family, a brother, as you could say,” said the girl’s father. “Our trust now with other people and especially other men that come around the house, we’re very skeptical of them, or you know, we don’t want to trust them.”
Her mother gave an emotional plea to the court for Cady to receive the maximum sentence, saying Cady took advantage of the family’s kindness to abuse their then 13-year-old daughter.
“I felt like my kindness became my weakness because if I hadn’t been so kind, maybe none of this would’ve happened,” said the victim’s mother. “I struggle with the guilt as her mom, and shame that how could I have been so stupid and naive, and so trusting that I couldn’t protect her from this happening?”
The mother detailed the physical consequences of the abuse, including her daughter’s current inability to be touched or comforted due to the crime.
“(The victim) was already struggling with normal teenage emotions and hormones, and now she was struggling with this,” said the victim’s mother. “PTSD, waking up from nightmares, shaking, screaming and I couldn’t hold her because not only does she not want any male to touch her — she didn’t want anyone to touch her at all. I couldn’t even comfort my own daughter.”
“My self-worth was destroyed in those moments.”
The victim then provided a statement, speaking about the consequences of the trauma she experienced and how the court process put a heavy strain on herself and her family’s mental health.
“It’s hard for me to hug my father, grandfather and uncles because all I can feel are his hands on me,” she said. “As much as I want to be able to talk to my mother and father about what’s happened, it’s just too hard because the look on their faces kills me inside.”
The victim said she felt that parts of her were broken because of the abuse. She said she was still working to heal.
“When it all first happened, I felt like pieces were stolen — my innocence and my self-worth. My self-worth was destroyed in those moments,” said the victim. “And almost three years later, I’m still trying to repair something I didn’t break.”
Cady declined to make a statement at sentencing.
Before pronouncing the sentence, Pickett explained his ruling by discussing how Cady’s actions will affect the victim and her family for a very long time.
“Both the victim impact statement of the mother and the victim in this case talked about stolen innocence. That’s exactly what this case is about,” said Pickett. “(The mother) talked about how kindness had become a weakness, that they were kind to you, and that you took advantage of that kindness and sexually assaulted their 13-year-old daughter.”
Pickett said Cady passed a polygraph test and the defendant claimed his attorney did not provide the evidence to prove him not guilty during the trial. Pickett also said the court had to consider the fact that a jury of 12 people found him guilty after trial.
He continued, saying that presentence investigators found that Cady believed he did nothing wrong.
“Mr. Cady focused on how unfair the trial was and his lack of participation in the sexual acts toward the victim,” said Pickett. “Mr. Cady’s perception and understanding of himself is essentially a virtuous person who gets in trouble because of his well-intentioned actions.”
Background
Cady was charged in January 2022 with lewd conduct with a 13-year-old child. The crime reportedly occurred in her family home in August 2021.
According to court documents, the victim told investigators that Cady, who was 42 at the time, had sexually abused her. The victim reported there had been multiple instances of sexual abuse.
Cady was reportedly a personal friend of the girl’s family.
A family member of the victim made a confrontational phone call with investigators to Cady in November 2021.
During the call, Cady admitted to having the girl’s hand on him in an inappropriate way during an incident in August. He also allegedly said he and the girl had slept together at the home on more than one occasion.
Cady denied participating in any other sexual acts with her, but investigators found Snapchat conversations between the two that were sexual.
Detectives spoke with Cady on the phone in December, where he said “something inappropriate” happened between him and the victim.
He did not go into detail but denied having sexual contact with her. Cady told the detective he was living in Millbrae, California, and didn’t anticipate being at the location much longer.
The case was initially delayed because investigators couldn’t find Cady. Eventually, they learned he had been living in multiple places, including Colorado, California and Nevada.
In May 2023, Cady was found in California and extradited to Bonneville County.