'You are a monster': Prison ordered for man who sexually assaulted 3 he met on dating apps

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — For two years, three women say they endured what seemed like a never-ending legal process.

But on Wednesday, Kristy, Misti and a third woman got their day in court and addressed the man who sexually assaulted them after meeting them on a dating app. And they did not hold back their feelings.

"You are a monster. My religion asks that we forgive. I don't feel this warrants forgiveness. Only God will give you forgiveness," Kristy said, directly addressing Samuel Whitney Faber. "You deserve everything that's coming to you. … You took away all the joy and happiness in my life."

Kristy and Misti previously gave permission for KSL.com to use their first names in order to tell their stories.

In June, Faber, 43, was convicted of rape, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual assault against Kristy and attempted forcible sexual abuse against Misti and another woman as part of a plea deal. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to what works out to at least five years and up to life in prison.

Before handing down the sentences, 3rd District Judge Coral Sanchez noted that consecutive sentences were warranted in this type of case. But due to the extensive effort made between prosecutors and Faber's defense attorneys to reach a plea deal, and the fact that the case's prior judge, Richard McKelvie who has since retired, agreed to it, she would honor the deal rather than risk Faber withdrawing his plea and having the entire process start over.

For most of Thursday's 2½ hour sentencing, Faber sat expressionless, either staring straight ahead or with his head down, only occasionally looking up at the women speaking against him. All three of Faber's victims plus Kristy's mother, sister and two young daughters addressed the court.

"I think you should go to jail for a thousand years. My mom cries nonstop because of you," one of Kristy's daughters said. "I hope you never get out of jail."

"You probably don't know this, but hurting people like this is really bad," she continued.

The girl, however, couldn't hold back her tears and had to have her mother finish reading the comments she had written down.

"You did so many bad things in your life. Did you know my mom has to spend the rest of her life not being happy?" Kristy read from the note, which also stated that Faber should "go back to preschool" to learn that hurting people is bad.

Faber's three victims and Kristy's mother had much stronger words for Faber, calling him a "monster" and referring several times to what they felt was narcissistic and arrogant behavior from someone who still doesn't believe he did anything wrong and who claims that the victims never gave him a hard "no" when declining his advances.

Misti called Faber an "extremely dangerous, cold, calculating and manipulative man" who believes women are only there to satisfy his sexual desires.

"You deserve to be locked away and forgotten, to be dehumanized the way you dehumanized me," she said, addressing Faber directly.

Kristy's mother told the court that based on the similar accounts of abuse from the three women, she believes Faber had become very calculated in his pattern of abuse.

"He knew what he was doing," she said.

"I'm not happy with you. You have made me so angry," Kristy's mother continued, directly addressing Faber while also calling him an "arrogant, selfish jerk."

Kristy, who refused to say Faber's name except for one time, said she reread her original statement to police in preparation for Wednesday's hearing and counted 83 times that she told Faber "no" on the night of her assault.

"I don't know how he didn't know I said 'no' after 83 times," she said. "My life will never be the same. I will never be free to live my life without fear. … I believe this predator took my freedom to live my life.

"This predator does not even show any remorse for what he did," Kristy continued.

Even prosecutors noted that based on the presentencing report and multiple letters they had received from people who know Faber — including some members of his own family — Faber doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the word "no."

"The defendant is a predator. His actions are deliberate," said Salt Lake County deputy district attorney Morgan Vedejs.

"Mr Faber is an extreme risk to this community," added victim advocate Donna Kelly. "He has a side that he shows to the public. But he has another side. And that's the side he showed to the three women."

Kelly says Faber wanted the women to consent to his sexual requests, "But he was going to proceed regardless."

"He is a dangerous individual," she said. "He needs to be at the prison, and he needs to be there for a very long time."

Faber's attorney, Adam Crayk, said despite what the presentence report indicates, Faber is sorry for what he has done and is not trying to minimize his accountability due to what he is and isn't pleading guilty to. He said that part is all the doing of attorneys working out a deal as part of the legal process. Crayk also reminded the court that any comments Faber made for the presentence report came from a man who has yet to undergo any sex offender treatment courses.

When asked if had any words to the court prior to being sentenced, Faber called the entire process "humbling."

"Words can't do justice. I'm sorry to the victims and the families," he said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry. I truly am sorry for what's happened. I'm trying to better myself and stay positive. I beg for their forgiveness and their remorse. And again, I'm sorry for my actions."

Faber was originally charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping, eight counts of forcible sexual abuse and aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty to amended charges of rape and forcible sodomy, first-degree felonies; plus aggravated sexual assault and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, third-degree felonies. He was sentenced to two concurrent terms of five years to life and a concurrent term of zero to five years, plus two consecutive terms of zero to five years in prison.

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Pat Reavy

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.