By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A Cedar City man with a long history of domestic violence was sentenced this week to prison after a brutal April assault left a woman injured, terrified, and unable to call for help.
James Lawrence Hildebrand, 33, was sentenced July 8 in 5th District Court to up to five years in the Utah State Prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. He also received two additional one-year sentences — to run concurrently — for property damage and drug possession, both class A misdemeanors.
The case stemmed from an April 17 domestic incident that police described as violent and dangerous.
According to the charging documents, neighbors reported hearing yelling coming from the unit, and officers arrived to find a woman in visible distress.
At the time, the victim told police that the male involved had left and that nothing more than an argument had occurred. But after Hildebrand was located and taken into custody on a felony warrant out of Las Vegas — also related to domestic violence — the woman opened up.
“She felt safe in reporting several crimes,” officers wrote in the affidavit. “The victim states that the night before James had punched her, threatened her with a knife and shoved her into a bathtub so forcefully that she popped out her hip and received a cut on her vagina.”
On the day of the arrest, the woman told officers Hildebrand had strangled her “almost to the point of losing consciousness,” pulled out chunks of her hair, thrown her to the ground, and threatened to harm her if she called police.
She also reported that Hildebrand took her phone and iPad to prevent her from calling for help. Officers later found the iPad smashed and a broken glass pipe that tested positive for methamphetamine.
Hildebrand was initially charged with 13 offenses, including two counts of aggravated assault, assault with substantial bodily injury, tampering with a witness, unlawful detention, and possession of a controlled substance.
At least seven of the charges were flagged as domestic violence-related felonies or misdemeanors. Several counts were later dismissed as part of the plea deal.
The victim told police that Hildebrand had continued to contact her after she had told him not to.
Officers noted that Hildebrand had a history of domestic violence, including violations of protective orders. They said both police and the victim believed “she would be in grave danger if James is released on bail.”
Prosecutors pushed for a prison sentence due to Hildebrand’s violent criminal history.
“Deputy County Attorney Dallin Brooks argued for prison and the court agreed,” Iron County Deputy Attorney Trajan Evans said in an email. “This man had at least nine prior DV convictions.”