PROVO, Utah (AP) - A woman has accused Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's son of stalking, saying he often stared at her with a fixated, glazed-over look that frightened her.
Aiona Butters testified in Fourth District Court on Friday in support of her request for a stalking injunction against Nathan
Herbert, 40.
She said Herbert approached her at University Mall, the Orem Public Library and at her gym.
Each encounter left her fearful and in tears, she said.
"It felt like he was raping me with his eyes," Butters told 4th District Judge James Taylor in describing an Aug. 4 incident. "Every time he sees me, there is just this glaze over his eyes."
Nathan Herbert's attorney Scott Card has disputed the allegations.
Butters' older sister accused the governor's son of stalking her in 2005, a case that was dismissed in a plea agreement in 2008.
Butters was granted a temporary stalking injunction in August. A hearing on her bid for a permanent order is to continue on
Wednesday.
Nathan Herbert was in the courtroom Friday with his mother, Jeanette Herbert. Gov. Herbert has previously said he believes the allegations against his son are without merit.
Butters said when she entered the gym she saw Nathan Herbert circle her car several times on foot. She said she found an
employee and asked to stand with him, saying she was scared.
She said as she stood with the employee, Nathan Herbert re-entered the gym, passed her and stood about 20 feet behind her pacing.
Later, she said an employee told her he could ask Nathan Herbert to leave, but Herbert noticed he was being watched and left, she said.
Nathan Herbert's cousin, Christopher Carlson, and aunt Karina Herbert both testified they were at the gym that day and did not see Nathan Herbert engage in any untoward behavior.
Another time, Butters said she was checking a book out of the Orem Public Library when Nathan Herbert stood behind her with a "leering" smile on his face. She said she ran out of the library, with Herbert in pursuit, and called police to report that incident.
Card told reporter's after Friday's hearing they would have to wait until Wednesday's hearing to hear arguments in Herbert's
defense.
"You will have the opportunity to hear from Mr. (Nathan) Herbert next Wednesday," he said.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
