American man of Utah arrested for repeatedly raping his severely disabled stepdaughter.

Brian Kenneth Urban was caught after the girl's mother installed cameras in the bedroom to monitor her seizures.

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A Price woman, severely disabled, was raped by her stepfather. This has prompted her mother to call for changes to Utah's law, expressing doubts about its effectiveness in protecting her daughter.

Brian Kenneth Urban plead guilty to five felony charges, including rape and forcible sexual abuse. His sentencing is scheduled for April, but the victim's family said the nightmare isn't over.

Paula Vigil takes care of her 31-year-old daughter, Ashley Vigil, who has a rare disorder known as Rett syndrome.

"She's grown to about the size of an eight-year-old girl. She's unable to communicate," Paula said. "Her seizures had suddenly increased."

Ashley's doctor recommended Paula put cameras in her room to capture the seizures, so they could get a better idea of what was going on.

"Instead of catching the seizures, I caught him," Paula said. "In her condition, she [Ashley] can't move. He had to completely undress her, move her to the couch, and take her diaper off, to do what he did. Then he had to dress her and put her back in her bed, so I wouldn't know... Her body was seizing, and she was crying for help in the only way she could. If not for those cameras, I would have never known, and I would have never had proof."

Paula called dispatch and South Jordan police arrested Urban. He is currently behind bars at the Salt Lake County Jail.

Attorney Nathaniel Woodward saw her story on Facebook and reached out, offering to help.

"Her situation really rattled me," he said. "I just want Paula and Ashley to feel heard. There's a real gap in how our law is written and applied.

He explained in a draft letter to lawmakers, "When a citizen of our state is raped and their attacker found guilty, the severity of the punishment will be determined by whether the victim was an adult or a minor. However, no substantive consideration is given as to an adult victim’s mental capacity, resulting in an inconsistent underlying philosophy as to why we justify more severe punishments for crimes against children."

Both he and Paula said under Utah law, if a rape victim is a child under the age of 18 or elderly, the rapist would face a mandatory prison sentence.

"As of now, there is no mandatory minimum prison sentence for Urban. I have no idea what his sentencing will be," Paula said. "She [Ashley] is an infant in an adult body. He did this to someone who could not fight back. He should be getting a mandatory prison sentence, and there's just this hole in the system."

Woodward added, "The law categorizes the punishments for rape in two broad categories. There are certain punishments for rape if the victim is an adult, and there's punishments for rape if the victim is a minor... I think it's a strong argument to say that when you rape a child, the punishment should be more severe. I don't think it's a big stretch to incorporate that if you rape an individual who has the mental capacity of a child, the punishment should be equally as severe or prosecuted in the same way. That's currently not how it's written."

This team hopes to pass "Ashley's Law" to help protect vulnerable adults. Paula made one promise to her daughter. "It's that she would never be anywhere where she wasn't safe. He took that one thing I promised away."