Jan. 5, 2024, will forever be forged in my brain as the day that earmarked that justice is not for all in this country — more specifically, this town!
I felt physically ill sitting in Judge Richard Mrazik’s Park City courtroom of the 3rd District Court, listening to the victim impact statement of a young lady who claimed she had been repeatedly raped and sexually abused by her own father, a local attorney —Joseph Wrona. It was so heart-wrenching and vile that the victim tasked her attorney to read her words to the packed courtroom.
The statement described how she had been repeatedly raped by her monstrous father. She described her father as a calculating predator from the very day they met, when she, already a young woman who had grown up in an unstable home without her father, was made to feel worthless and without purpose.
From the first moment Joseph Wrona entered his biological daughter’s life, he began manipulating her, leading her on with promises of money, holidays, luxuries, etc., effectively trapping her deep into his own private perverted world, leaving her frightened, vulnerable and unable to navigate her own escape.
According to the victim, he would take her on trips, get her black-out drunk, defile her and leave her to wake with the shame and embarrassment of being violated. She was just 22 years old.
“He took away my last bit of innocence; it was gone.”
She had finally built her own safe haven in Oklahoma when Wrona brought her to Park City, filling her head with promises of a grand and better life. He bought her a condo, while simultaneously imposing conditions on her lifestyle and limiting her ability to make and have friends. He turned her new home into his own little house of debauchery, repeatedly raping and abusing her, shaming her into compliance and effectively trapping her in a demoralizing and demeaning lifestyle of his choosing.
She did not know how to break free. She was afraid for her safety, felt completely cornered, and ultimately cut off from friends and any means of escape.
“I wanted a dad. Instead I got a soul-sucking monster.”
I listened as her words continued to fill the room, pleading with the court to protect her two younger half-brothers and save them “from the revolting excuse of a father.” The final words of her statement to the now weeping courtroom, stated her desire to see her father “rot in hell for all I care.”
After hearing all this, there was no way justice was possible.
Judge Mrazik attempted to comfort the courtroom, articulating his belief that in some cases justice was elusive, and the negative consequences of subjecting the victim to the potential uncertainty of a trial was not in her best interest. He said the court was advised by the victim’s own attorney to take this deal.
Justice — it simply was not on the list of options on Jan. 5. Utah law did not provide the county attorneys or the judge with an option other than to honor the victim’s wish to settle the case in this manner. Under Utah law, I could only come to terms with this perversion of justice by labeling it as a business deal between a victim and a sophisticated, privileged and pathetic excuse of an attorney-father.
After the judge consented to the plea deal, and much to my surprise, the lecherous Joe Wrona chose to address the court.
With seemingly little accountability and no real remorse, Wrona tried to justify his behavior. The judge was quick to interrupt the contemptuous former attorney and warned him to be careful that he wasn’t committing another crime by continuing to prattle on about the case. I, for one, was disturbed by the judge interrupting Wrona’s diatribe, wanting to see the guilt-ridden scum bucket further bury himself, and potentially open himself up to additional felony charges.
What did transpire, however, despite prosecutors and defense attorneys rushing the judge to private conference, was Wrona’s continued insistence to use this opportunity to explain that “it was real …,” the love that he had for his daughter. He said they had even gone shopping for rings and when she demanded money after he was exposed, he paid it before the deadline. (Can anyone imagine sitting though this after hearing the victim’s statement?)
The vitriol was apparent throughout the courtroom and bile rose into our throats as he rambled on. It was repulsive; it was preposterous; it was beyond human comprehension.
Knowing that the law was actually being applied justly by the judge and county attorneys did not help me. I felt compelled to excuse myself, exiting the courtroom to go outside and puke.
John Kenworthy
Park City