Two women testified for the first time last week against the owner of a Salt Lake City wine bar, whom they each accuse of sexual assault.
Kasey Newman, the 57-year-old owner of Bar à Vin, located at 917 S. State St., has been charged in Utah’s 3rd District Court in the two cases.
Newman faces one count of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, in the first case, as well as three third-degree felony counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old. The charges were filed on April 29 and stem from events that the alleged victim said happened in 2021.
In the second case, filed a month earlier and stemming from separate March allegations, Newman faces one count of rape and one count of forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies, as well as three counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
Third District Judge James Gardner on Sept. 9 ruled there was sufficient evidence to bring the first case to trial. Newman entered a “not guilty” plea on all counts ahead of a pretrial conference planned for Oct. 28.
A preliminary hearing is expected to continue in the second case later this month.
“It’s easy to make myself feel like maybe I was being overdramatic, or I had a one-off, and I was the only person who viewed a certain situation a certain way,” testified the alleged victim in the first case on Sept. 9. “But hearing that somebody else had viewed Kasey as threatening and predatory validated my feelings of Kasey being threatening and predatory.”
The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent.
Newman declined to testify Sept. 9. In a statement previously provided to The Salt Lake Tribune, Newman’s attorney, Jesse Nix, said, “The charges against Mr. Newman are false, and we intend to fight them aggressively in court.”
“One case involves a consensual adult encounter that is now being twisted into something it was not,” Nix said in the statement. “The other involves an allegation of sexual contact with a minor that is entirely false. Mr. Newman never had sex with this person.”
The Salt Lake County district attorney’s office declined comment, saying that it does not typically comment on ongoing cases.
What allegedly happened in the first case?
The alleged victim in the first case said she was about 16 when she met Newman on a “sugar daddy” website in late 2021.
He reached out to her, according to a declaration of probable cause, and the two agreed to meet in person.
During their meeting, the teen told Newman that she was “new to this scene,” according to the charging document.
Newman replied that he was “not a creep” and had “been around the block with these types of interactions,” the document states.
After the meeting, Newman allegedly sent the teen a message inviting her to his home, the statement said.
She drove herself there, where Newman showed her around, “telling her she would be safe with him,” according to the statement.
She alleges Newman had sex with her on at least three occasions between Nov. 1 and Dec. 28, 2021, and that afterward, he paid her $400.
What allegedly happened in the second case?
The alleged victim in the second case also said she met Newman on a “sugar daddy” website before Newman arranged for them to meet at his home on or around March 19 for lunch.
While they were eating, Newman told the woman that he had “paid for other females’ tuition, rent, mortgages, and bills” before sending her $500 through Cash App, the charging document states.
After lunch, Newman allegedly showed the woman around his house. When they came to his bedroom, he told her that he wanted “sugar,” the charging document states.
She asked what he meant, according to the document, and she said he replied, “Well, do you think I am just giving you the $500 just to talk to me?”
The woman then told Newman that she was uncomfortable and asked to return the $500, the document states.
In reply, Newman allegedly said he doesn’t “do refunds,” then sexually assaulted her, the document states.
Prosecutors in March had requested that Newman be held without bail. In April, a judge ordered that Newman could be released on $10,000 bail on the condition that he wear an ankle monitor, not begin any new romantic relationships (including online dating), surrender his passport, not leave the state without permission, and not commit any crimes during his pretrial release, according to a court order.
In June, a judge allowed Newman to travel to Napa, California, for a four-day business trip, according to a court order.
Does the case affect Bar a Vin’s liquor license?
Utah law requires liquor licensees to undergo background checks, which are maintained by the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), said Michelle Schmitt, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, in an email.
If a license holder is convicted of a felony, the courts notify BCI, which then notifies the DABS, which then notifies the licensee that they have a “disqualifying background” and are no longer eligible to hold a liquor license within the state of Utah, Schmitt said.
If multiple parties are named on the business entity and licensed with the DABS, they are notified that “the entity must take action to remove the disqualified business partner,” Schmitt said.