A judge sentenced a Ridgway man to three years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman in 2023 after he claimed he was drunk and thought she was his wife.

Brian Scranton, 49, hugged and kissed his wife and daughter before he was led away by Ouray County Sheriff’s Office deputies and taken to the Montrose County Jail. He’ll ultimately be transferred to the Colorado Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.

The sentence came seven years after he was found not guilty in another sex assault case – a jury acquitted Scranton of sexually assaulting a woman during a house party in Ouray County in 2015.

Scranton, who was originally charged with sexual assault, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted sexual assault, a class 5 felony, as part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors in March. The deal called for him to receive between one and six years in prison.

The incident occurred in December 2023 following a night of drinking during Ridgway’s Noel Night celebration.

The woman told investigators she allowed Scranton and his wife, Susan, to spend the night in her studio apartment in Ridgway after they were too intoxicated to drive home. She said she went to sleep in her bed, while the Scrantons slept on a pullout couch. She said she woke up to Scranton on top of her, sexually assaulting her.

In a series of text messages to the woman weeks later, Scranton admitted to the assault and claimed he thought the woman was his wife, according to court records.

For more than an hour, attorneys, family members and friends presented disparate pictures of Scranton, a former chairman of the Ridgway Planning Commission and vice president of the Ridgway Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, who had a history of holding fundraisers for others and volunteering in the community.

The woman and her family said Scranton inflicted lasting trauma on her and betrayed their trust – he was considered chosen family and she thought of him as an uncle. The woman said Scranton showed no empathy or accountability for his actions, and she and her family accused Scranton and his family of minimizing the assault, spreading untrue stories about what happened and chalking it up to a misunderstanding.

“Brian, there is no version or narrative that justifies what you did to me,” the woman said.

Scranton’s attorney, Vince Felletter, cast him as a loving family man, successful career professional and community booster who has raised money to build mountain bike trails and pay a cancer patient’s medical bills.

Scranton apologized to the woman, saying he thinks constantly about the night of the assault and how it affected her.

“I’m forever sorry,” he said. “And I’ll spend forever trying to make it right. And I hope you find peace. I hope you find happiness. I hope you break through the darkness, the darkness I and others have (created for) you. I’m so sorry.”

Much of the rest of his comments focused on revisiting good times his family had with the woman in the past, sharing holidays and celebrations.

Seventh Judicial District Chief Judge Cory Jackson pointed out that a probation officer concluded Scranton was a low risk to reoffend and recommended he receive probation. And he said he heard from Scranton’s attorney and family that he is hard working, educated and devoted.

“But I think the nature of this offense itself is revealing and shows true character and a set of character traits that are very much to the contrary,” Jackson said.

Though Scranton’s attorney requested a deferred sentence and two years supervised probation. Jackson said he was choosing a sentence that fit the seriousness of the crime and the impact to the woman and the community, and deters crimes like these.

In the previous case, Scranton was found not guilty by a Ouray County jury in 2018, concerning a report that he allegedly raped a woman at a house party in 2015. According to prior reports in the Plaindealer, that case involved a victim who said she was unconscious but knew she had been assaulted. DNA evidence indicated Scranton had sex with the woman, which he initially denied but later said was consensual.

Read the full story in the June 12 edition of the Plaindealer.