Senator Pleads Guilty To Sexual Battery

Conservative state Sen. Rex Furness pleaded guilty on Monday to sexual battery on his adopted granddaughter, a crime he essentially confessed to this spring during an interview with a state investigator.

The 72-year-old Rigby Republican admitted fondling the breasts of his adopted teenage granddaughter during his arraignment in 7th District Court. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 9.

Defense attorney Jim Archibald said the plea ends Furness’s state Senate career, although it remained unclear whether he would officially resign from office or simply remove himself from the general election ballot. His term ends Dec. 1, and there are no formal legislative activities scheduled between now and then.

He was unopposed for re-election so the person selected by the Republican Legislative District Committee to replace him will all but be guaranteed a seat in the Senate.

A half dozen people in the heavily rural district have expressed interest in the job.

The only opposition can come from a write-in candidate.

Furness had been accused of fondling the victim on several occasions between July 4, 1995, and April.