The co-founder of the Sundance Film Festival has been sentenced to at least six years in jail after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child.

Sterling Van Wagenen, 72, was sentenced in American Fork, Utah on Tuesday for inappropriately touching a young Utah girl on two occasions between 2013 and 2015 when she was between seven and nine years old.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to two child sex abuse charges in two courtrooms involving the same victim.

Prosecutors say the abuse first took place at his home in Woodland Hills, Utah. And the second occasion took place as she sat on his lap on a stairway to her family's basement in Salt Lake County.

In the guilty plea deal prosecutors agreed to seek the sentence of at least six years and up to life in prison to run concurrently, according to the Deseret News.

He rose to prominence as a filmmaker who co-founded the esteemed Sundance festival along with Robert Redford in 1978. But Van Wagenen hasn't been with the organization for more than 20 years.

Sundance co-founder Sterling Van Wagenen, 72, was sentenced to six years to life in prison for sexually abusing a Utah girl twice between 2013 and 2015. Pictured in court in April 2019 after pleading guilty to sexual abuse of a child

He rose to prominence as a filmmaker who co-founded the esteemed Sundance festival along with Robert Redford in 1978. But Van Wagenen hasn't been with the organization for more than 20 years.

He's also known for producing the film 1985 film 'The Trip to Bountiful,' whose lead actress Geraldine Page went on to win an Oscar.

Fourth District Judge Robert Griffin handed down his sentence Tuesday adding he hopes the parole board will keep Van Wagenen in prison longer than the minimum. A Judge in West Jordan issue that county's sentence next week.

Griffin commended the victim for coming forward.

She came forward after a man named Sean Escobar accused Van Wagenen of molesting him during a sleepover in 1993 in February.

'You did the right thing and you're not responsible for anything that happened and anything that will happen,' said Judge Griffin during the hearing south of Salt Lake City. 'You're a brave young lady.'

The victim, whose name is being withheld because she is a victim of sexual abuse, was present as her sister read her statement blasting Van Wagenen for lying and being a coward.

'I strongly believe the only thing you were actually torn up about is the fact that you got caught,' said the girl, now a teen.

'I believe with all my heart that there are others that you damaged,' she added.

The girl Van Wagenen abused came forward in February after a man named Sean Escobar (above) accused Van Wagenen of molesting him during a sleepover in 1993. Though Escobar didn't press charges, it encouraged his other victim to come out

Van Wagenen declined to apologize when he spoke to the victim and her family.

'It's clear that any kind of apology I can make is meaningless at this point,' Van Wagenen said. 'So I am not even going to attempt one. I want you all to know I feel the consequences of what I've done. I feel them deeply.'

Van Wagenen has worked over the years as a film instructor at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University and as a director and producer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on a variety of projects, including temple videos.

He resigned from his part-time instructor position at the University of Utah's Film and Media Arts Department on February 15, university spokesman Chris Nelson said.

He resigned after Sean Escobar's 1993 allegation came out.

Escobar, now in his 30s, had taped Van Wagenen apologizing for inappropriately touching him in a recording that surfaced in February and made his abuse public.

No charges were filed in that case, which was made public by a website that serves as a watchdog for The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.

Van Wagenen thanked Escobar, who was in court Tuesday.

'I am grateful to the blessing that Sean Escobar has been to me personally for bringing this all to light,' he said.

Escobar said he was the same age as the victim when he was abused by Van Wagenen 25 years ago.

Van Wagenen said that he was abused as a child. But Judge Griffins aid, 'The past does not justify the present.'