The TikTok is a KSL Investigators recap of a jail sentence, not a new charge. On October 1, 2026, Fourth District Judge Christine Johnson sentenced former Republican Utah Senate candidate Brandon Beckham, 51, to 364 days in county jail for sexually abusing a woman in 2021, and suspended a prison term of one to 15 years in favor of probation. Beckham must register as a sex offender and received credit for four days already served. He had remained out of custody after the August verdict and left the Provo courtroom in handcuffs to begin the sentence. The video, posted by KSL reporter Daniella Rivera, calls the term just under a year in a case that ran for several years.
What the jury decided
On August 5, 2026, a Utah County jury of six women and two men convicted Beckham of two felony counts of forcible sexual abuse and acquitted him of a third. Jurors deliberated less than five hours after a four-day trial, the third time prosecutors sought a conviction. Deputy Utah County Attorney Alex Redmon, who tried the case, wrote that the verdict “represents justice to the victim of these crimes” and that she “has waited a long time for this verdict.” He credited Pleasant Grove Police Sgt. Shawn Nielson’s investigation. Beckham did not comment as he left the courthouse.
How the case reached a third trial
A Pleasant Grove woman reported to Pleasant Grove police that Beckham, a social acquaintance, had a nonconsensual sexual encounter with her at her home on June 22, 2021, after he came over to watch a movie and continued after she told him to stop. Prosecutors filed one second-degree felony count of forcible sexual abuse on February 25, 2022. Then-Utah County Attorney David Leavitt’s office confirmed Beckham was the defendant. Beckham emailed KSL that he categorically denied the published account and said no legal authority had notified him of a complaint.
By the August 2026 trial, jurors were considering three counts. The first trial, in January 2025, ended in a mistrial after a female defense attorney said she was not comfortable continuing and withdrew. Beckham told KSL he had done nothing inappropriate and agreed to waive any double-jeopardy claim from that mistrial. A second trial ended with a hung jury in January 2026. The Utah County Attorney’s Office said it had “presented a strong evidence of the defendant’s guilt,” was disappointed some jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, and would retry the case.
Jurors at each trial heard a phone call investigators recorded under a warrant. Beckham is heard saying, “I got a little out of hand there. I got a little too wild,” and, “But it wasn’t like it was planned that way. It just happened.”
What the judge weighed
The woman told the court on October 1, “This has been the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life,” and described five years, three trials, and three times on the stand. She said the case followed her into dating, sleep, and counseling, and that Beckham “has never taken an ounce of accountability.” She said he accused her of trying to ruin his campaign even though she reported the assault days later, months before he filed to run.
Redmon asked for prison, restitution, and payment of her therapy. Defense attorney Jared Stubbs said Beckham had lived a “model life,” had never been jailed, and was “not a risk to society.” He argued for probation, pointing to Beckham’s employment and education, an October shoulder surgery, the loss of his career, and an ecclesiastical process.
Beckham first declined to speak, then read from his presentence statement. “I believed the interaction was consensual at the time,” he said. “That said, I have since come to understand through three trials that she experienced that evening very differently than I did.” Johnson said she had to balance punishment, rehabilitation, and restitution. “I do see a lack of remorse, and that’s troubling to me,” she said. KSL’s account of the hearing does not state how long probation will last, or whether restitution and therapy costs were ordered.
The Senate race that ran beside the case
Beckham, then 46 and an Orem resident, filed on February 28, 2022, to run as a Republican for Senate District 23, three days after the charge. The district includes Vineyard and parts of Provo, Orem, Lindon, and Pleasant Grove. Incumbent Sen. Keith Grover defeated him in the June 28, 2022 Republican primary, 8,833 votes to 3,870.
During the campaign, prosecutors said Beckham’s campaign emailed the woman despite a no-contact order, and that at least one message used her name and discussed the case. Deputy Utah County Attorney Stephen Jones told the court, “I understand that this was the campaign, but it was the defendant’s campaign.” Prosecutors did not seek an order to show cause. Defense attorney Randall Spencer agreed the emails were “certainly not appropriate” and said his client would comply.
