PALMER — A judge sentenced a former corrections officer to nine years in prison Monday for molesting a young girl.

Joel Phillip Larson was arrested in September 2008 and charged with six sexual abuse charges. Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to one consolidated abuse count. At the time of Larson’s arrest, Alaska State Troopers said the allegations first came to light in 2006 when the girl, 15 at the time, said Larson had abused her since she was 11 or 12 years old.

At Friday’s hearing, the girl described for the court how the abuse started relatively tame then, over time, grew in severity. She said she was confused about the morality of the situation at such a young age. “He couldn’t help but explore my developing body,” she said. “Was it wrong? I hadn’t learned the birds or the bees yet.”

She said Larson’s crimes came to light after she wrote to a friend about what Larson did with her. The friend wrote his own letter and sent it to the authorities. Troopers showed up at her school to speak with her.

The girl said she told them everything in that letter was true, but that Larson and her mother eventually convinced her to recant.

She was told, “it would blacken our name and ruin us.”

The girl said she was prosecuted for making a false report and had to do community service and write letters of apology to the investigating troopers. But her life didn’t return to normal. She said she started cutting herself, developed a cleaning obsession, had nervous breakdowns and lost interest in activities she used to enjoy.

Finally she got to her breaking point. She called a boy she’d recently started dating, told him everything. He told her to pack her things and come stay with him in Anchorage.

So she took the family car and left, living in Anchorage and commuting daily to Palmer for school. She made a new report to troopers who advised her to stay away from Larson if she could.

With troopers’ help, she made recorded calls to Larson but didn’t get a confession. So, she said, she took a risk, met him at Carrs with a recorder strapped to her leg, and got the evidence troopers needed.

“Age makes no difference for true love? False, everyone,” she said. “It’s OK because I love you and you love me? False again.”

For his part, Larson had very little to say except that he was sorry.

Assistant District Attorney Rachel Gernat asked for a 10-year sentence, saying that Larson, of all people, should have known better, since he worked in a prison and saw people coming in every day charged with or convicted of sexual abuse of a minor.

She said Larson was well-respected person holding a job in a trustworthy position. He was active in his church.

But, she said, “Something that I’ve learned more than anything is that you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.”

Larson’s attorney, Sidney Billingslea, asked for an eight-year term, saying that Gernat’s contention that Larson should have known better was immaterial — everyone knows that child molestation is wrong, not just corrections officers. And being a former corrections officer creates its own burdens since it’s going to be very rough for Larson in prison.

“The kind of time that he serves as a former corrections officer is harder time than anyone else,” she said.

Superior Court Judge Vanessa White, in deciding to split the difference and impose a nine-year sentence, told Larson he had victimized the girl twice — “first by abusing her and second by making her take responsibility for your actions.”

She noted that members of his church have supported and looked up to him.   

“Mr. Larson, you betrayed those people,” she said. “Many of those people have forgiven you. That is more a comment on their faith than on your character.”

She said she considers Larson to have a potential to re-offend but doesn’t consider him beyond rehabilitation. She urged him to make good use of the family and friends who will support him when he’s released.

“I think you do have the support of some incredibly forgiving and decent people,” she said. “What you choose to do with that unquestioning, generous love and affection that comes out of their faith is up to you.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.