A 19-year-old Tooele man who pleaded guilty Aug. 14 to sex abuse of a child, a second-degree felony, was spared prison on Tuesday.

Third District Court Judge Mark Kouris yesterday sentenced Eric Richard Nay from one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison, but suspended that time and instead ordered Nay to serve 36 months probation. Nay will also be going to the Northern Utah Community Correctional Center in Ogden -- a halfway house for sex offenders.

Nay, who lived with his parents in Tooele, was arrested last May for fondling his niece.

Defense attorney John Williams told the court Nay is very intelligent but socially immature.

"In these sort of cases, I rarely ever do not put people in prison," Kouris said. "How do I know there won't be other tiny little victims out there?"

Nay told the court his only hope was for the victim to live a normal happy life. Neither the victim nor her parents were in the courtroom.

Kouris also ordered that Nay have no contact with the victim.

"She no longer even knows that you are alive," Kouris said.