DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — On Tuesday, Shelby Ward was convicted in 23rd Judicial District Court on two counts of sexually assaulting a child.
Ward will be officially sentenced in December, but his conviction lifts a massive weight off the shoulders of Brittney Hutkay-Moore and her two daughters.
"We've been doing this for for two years," Hutkay-Moore told Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito on Wednesday. "This last week has been, it was like problem after problem after problem of just trying to make sure that this goes through, that we don't have to put the kids on the stand more than once, trying to get them through it, and so my body hasn't figured out that my nervous system can relax yet. So I'm just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop right now."
Hutkay-Moore told Melito Ward is the husband of her best friend. He was someone who was very close to her daughters so to learn he had sexually assaulted more than two years ago, it was like she was stabbed in the back.
"It's probably the worst feeling of betrayal that anyone could imagine, and I don't wish it on anybody," Hutkay-Moore said.
She says she is beyond proud of her daughters for their bravery and resilience.
"My biggest, proudest moment would have had to been at trial, one of the kids needed to take a break during testimony, and just wanted her sister," Hutkay-Moore recalled. "They ran to each other in the hall and just hugged each other and comforted each other, and you know I'm so proud of you. You're so strong. You're so brave."
Adding her daughter's reactions was priceless.
"One of the kids was at a kickball game with Castle Rock Police Department, and I'm friends with one of the officers that was with her and Face-timed and was like, "Hey, guess what? And she's like, "What? And I said, "Guilty on all counts, and she screamed and was happy and sobbed, and it was pouring rain last night, and we got some hail, and I was told she got off the phone and walked straight into the rain," Hutkay-Moore detailed.
And that she's blessed to know that her girls can put this nightmare behind them.
"Everything has this dark cloud overshadowing it, so being able to have that lifted, and have my girls be able to sleep through the night last night, and go to bed early because they were like, it's done. I mean, there's just no greater gift," Hutkay-Moore said.
Deputy District Attorney for Colorado's 23rd Judicial District Brynn Chase worked with Hutkay-Moore and her daughters the entire process. She called yesterday's conviction a major victory.
"I just felt the most immense sense of relief for this family because always I feel relief when there's a guilty verdict, and I know that victims are invested. But really and truly, in a lot of ways, this trial felt so cursed," Chase shared. "We just kept having thing after thing after thing, roadblock after roadblock, and we kept having to put them through it. Tell Brittany, oh, now this is happening. Oh, now this is happening. Oh, I don't know if the trial is going to happen now, and it was a horrendous roller coaster."
And seeing the girls' reaction is why she loves what she does.
"To then watch that little girl just. Melt into this joyous sobbing, this mix of emotions, and to see that over the phone after I'd felt that energy throughout the trial was so meaningful to me," Chase described.
Chase adding her message to anyone who may be going through something similar.
"I think it's important for the public to start gaining the understanding that we will pursue cases that some people like to call a he said she said," Chase outlined. "This case largely was one that rode upon the credibility of these two victims."
Hutkay-Moore told Melito she knew about Ward's criminal history, but did not know he is a registered sex offender with more than a dozen convictions in both Washington and Idaho. Something 23rd Judicial District DA George Brauchler says raises questions.
"I really do think part of this story has to be what the hell happened in Washington State," Brauchler said. "Rape of a child sounds like a charge that should carry a truckload of prison, not six months of jail and suspended 54 months."
Brauchler adding he believes had Ward been forced to serve a full sentence, this may have been avoided.
"It is super challenging to second-guess a prosecutor anywhere, let alone in another jurisdiction, with facts that you only know kind of superficially here," Brauchler said. "If this guy had been accountable at the level, he's certainly going to be held accountable now. Would there be any other victims? Would we be sitting across from each other having this conversation?"
Melito reached out to Ward's attorney Michael Sheehan for comment. Sheehan wrote back:
"In my view, it would be inappropriate for me to make any comments to the media until after he has been sentenced. For that reason, I have no comment."
