One of two men from an edited movie rental business in Orem who were charged with paying 14-year-old girls for sexual favors pleaded guilty on Friday.

Lifferth will be sentenced June 27. Deputy county attorney Curtis Larson did not say whether he would recommend jail or prison time for Lifferth. The maximum sentence is 10 years in prison.

Jere Reneer, Lifferth's attorney, said his client made a mistake and regrets the incident.

"It's an unfortunate situation for those girls and it's unfortunate for my client to have to deal with that. He feels terrible," Reneer said.

Lifferth and business partner Daniel Dean Thompson, of the now-closed Flix Club in Orem, were arrested in January after two 14-year-old girls told police that Lifferth paid them $20 apiece to perform oral sex on him. They also told police that he paid them another $20 on a separate occasion to perform oral sex on Thompson at Flix Club.

When police searched Flix Club, they found a number of pornographic movies and Lortab. The girls told police that Thompson told them that he and Lifferth used Flix Club as a front for producing and distributing pornographic movies, according to an affidavit filed in 4th District Court.

Reneer said the two girls told Lifferth that they were 18. According to the affidavit, Thompson asked the girls if they were over 18, and both said they were. The affidavit also said Lifferth did not know the girls were 14 years old.

"Nobody disagrees with the facts. They said they were 18," Reneer said.

Unfortunately for Lifferth, the law does not take that into account. Under Utah law, it is illegal for an adult to have sexual contact with someone who is underage, regardless of whether they believed the person was 18.

"Mr. Lifferth has accepted responsibility at a felony level for his conduct," Larson said.

Lifferth's drug possession charge was reduced to a misdemeanor from a third-degree felony. Reneer said Lifferth has one prior conviction for possession of a prescription drug, which was reduced after he completed probation.

Except for his sentencing, Lifferth's case is over, but Thompson's has yet to reach a resolution. He will be back in court on May 30 on two charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony, and one charge of patronizing a prostitute, a class B misdemeanor.

Thompson also faces a lawsuit in U.S. District Court from CleanFlicks. Owners of the edited movie rental business accuse Thompson of using the company's name to sell videos at his Orem store. CleanFlicks said after Thompson's arrest that he has no connection to the company.

Lifferth is not named in the CleanFlicks lawsuit.

• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it