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WEST JORDAN — A Draper bus driver was found guilty Thursday of 19 charges of sexually abusing two special-needs girls he drove to school.
John Martin Carrell, 62, was charged with 33 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, but jurors acquitted him of 14 of those charges.
He showed little emotion as the verdicts were read Thursday afternoon, his eyes wide and his expression blank as he glanced at the jurors.
Carrell, who will be sentenced Sept. 24, faces potential prison sentences of 15 years to life for each of the 19 charges.
For more than 15 hours Wednesday and Thursday, the five-woman, three-man jury pored over surveillance footage from Carrell's bus, ultimately convinced that the video showed him sexually abusing the 5-year-old girls as he unbuckled them from their seats or held them close to him as he sat in the driver's seat.
However, the video wasn't enough to convince them to find him guilty on nearly half of the charges.
"It was kind of interesting how they came up with that, but we don't have an initial reaction on that," said defense attorney Ron Yengich, expressing some surprise at the split decision. "He's disappointed, but John accepts the verdict as well."
Prosecutor Nathan Evershed applauded the jury's efforts to meticulously review each count. He echoed his closing argument after the verdict came down Thursday, emphasizing the importance of the testimony presented by one of the young victims.
"This case was more than just surveillance video," Evershed said. "On that surveillance video, I think the jury saw a pattern, they saw different things, and I think it's pretty clear when you combine the testimony to the surveillance video as to what happened."
Members of the girls' families exited the building somberly and without comment.
Though Carrell showed little reaction to the verdict, members of his large family wept as the decision was read and as they left the courthouse without comment. One woman distributed small cards with a picture of Jesus Christ and a bible verse.
Carrell testified that he treated the children on his bus as his own grandchildren, including holding their hands or putting his arms around them at times.
"I just don't push kids away, it's just not me. I was trying to be practical about policy," Carrell testified, referring to the district's guidelines and acknowledging he was aware of them.
Carrell was charged last year with 33 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, after a troubling statement from one of those girls to her father spurred an investigation and prompted police to review the footage from Carrell's bus.
That girl, now 6, testified in court last week that the bus driver would touch her inappropriately "every day" as he unbuckled her seat belt and as they waited for a teacher to come get her off the bus.
Prosecutors argued in court that footage from the bus supported the girl's account and provided evidence that Carrell inappropriately touched the two children on several occasions between March 12 and April 3, 2014, as he waited on the bus with them at Altara Elementary School, 800 E. 11000 South.
"Everything corroborates that little girl's testimony," prosecutor Nathan Evershed told jurors Wednesday, asking them to find Carrell guilty on all counts.
In an impassioned closing argument, defense attorney Ron Yengich said that a hypersensitive culture regarding child sex abuse had compelled well-meaning adults to turn the young girl's comments about Carrell into something nefarious.
"Good people have made a mistake. A statement was made by a little girl … and good people jumped in," Yengich told the jury. "It doesn't mean (the little girl) is lying, it just means she's been telling what she's told to tell. Children do that."
Contributing: Sam Penrod
