Child molester’s
sentence again delayed
The court is told the man is
By Debra Barayuga
suicidal and undergoing treatment
at a hospital
Star-BulletinA Salt Lake man who said he has fondled some 200 children has been admitted to Queen's Hospital because he says he is suicidal.
Parents of two girls who were molested by him at Oahu toy stores late last year say he is faking to delay his sentencing.
Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario yesterday continued sentencing for Larry Cox, 36, for the fifth time, this time to Sept. 1. The judge was notified that Cox had been admitted to a hospital room because he was suicidal.
"This criminal is manipulating the court system for his own gain and we have to wait," said the mother of one of the victims. "There's no closure."
That he allegedly admitted to victimizing 200 others shows "he's sick, he needs to be punished," she said.
At a sentencing hearing last month, his defense attorney had indicated Cox was suicidal. Because of privacy laws, Queen's Hospital will neither confirm nor deny that Cox is there.
Police don't know who Larry Cox's alleged 200 other victims are but are urging parents to notify authorities if their children make a complaint, said Detective Letha DeCaires, CrimeStoppers coordinator. Parents can call: TELL THE POLICE
Lt. Danny Lopez, head of HPD's sex assault unit at 529-3036
Cox, of an Ala Napunani Street address, has been under house arrest and electronic monitoring since June 4 after the court learned he admitted that he had fondled 200 other victims, prosecutors say.
He was initially arrested in December and spent a week in jail before posting $20,000 bail.
Cox was charged with three counts of third-degree sex assault and one count of attempted third-degree sex assault.
He pleaded guilty to each count Feb. 11 and was scheduled to be sentenced on April 21.
His sentencing was rescheduled two more times, then a third time, to yesterday .
He faces five years' imprisonment on each count, but the state is seeking an extended sentence of 10 years because of the multiple offenses involved.
In one case, on Nov. 28, a woman's 11-year-old daughter was with her younger sister and grandmother at Toys-R-Us across from Pearlridge Center when a man grabbed her breasts, then tried to grab her again.
Authorities were notified, but the suspect could not be located.
The girl had noticed him earlier when they were at Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shop in Pearlridge, and he had reached over her to get a toy.
A similar incident less than two weeks later, allegedly involving Cox, led police to suspect him in the Nov. 28 case as well.
On Dec. 8, a woman and her 10-year-old daughter were browsing in the toy department at the Salt Lake Kmart when her daughter felt a man grab her buttocks.
The girl fled to another aisle, but the man followed her and grabbed her again. Kmart security apprehended him, and he was subsequently arrested.
Cox told detectives the girl had bumped into him and apologized, but he denied touching her the second time, said Deputy Prosecutor Renee Sonobe-Hong.
Detectives did an excellent job of tying Cox to the earlier case at Toys-R-Us, she said.
At a presentence hearing last month, Sonobe-Hong said Cox admitted to victimizing 200 others.
She argued for an extended sentence because Cox's actions were "purposeful" and he admitted doing what he did because it gave him a thrill, she said.
He said he would go shopping for legitimate reasons but would be on the lookout for opportunities, she said.
The defense is seeking probation for Cox, who apologized to the victims' families in court last month. The offenses are his first felony convictions.
If what Cox says of having some 200 victims is true, his case is consistent with suspects in pedophile cases who admit to victimizing an unusually large number of victims before they are caught, said Detective Letha DeCaires, CrimeStoppers coordinator.
