A Butler County judge rejected a man's plea deal Thursday in an assault case after a victim in the case pleaded with the court to reject what she thought was too lenient a deal.

Paul Jeppsen, 62, of Salt Lake City appeared in court Thursday to be sentenced after pleading guilty in July to simple assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. But as Jeppsen stood before Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer, the victim in the case, Deborah Anspach, said the plea deal was a surprise to her, and that she wasn't receiving enough restitution to cover medical expenses she incurred from the attack.

“I'm angry. I'm upset. I can't forgive him for what he did to me,” the Butler County woman said. “To me, this was not a simple assault. This was aggravated assault.”

Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope responded that he met with Anspach many times as the case progressed, and that Jeppsen was pleading guilty to his most serious charge.

Shaffer rejected the plea deal, negating Jeppsen's guilty plea. He once again faces simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and harassment.

“Come to a mutually agreeable plea or we'll take this to trial,” Shaffer said.

But Anspach, who shared her story with the Eagle several months ago, told the court the charges aren't severe enough for what she described as a sexual assault that left her seriously injured.

After midnight on April 1, 2019, police were called for a disturbance at an Airbnb rental in Mercer Township where Anspach lives.

There, they found Anspach in her car outside of the residence, according to police. They observed her crying, and she told them that she was afraid of Jeppsen. She related to police that Jeppsen “bear hugged” her at her residence and refused to let her go.

In his embrace, Anspach said he told her that he wanted to have “some sort of sexual relations with her.”

Anspach told police she was able to break his hug, but he grabbed her leg as she was walking away. This caused her to fall and hit her head on the ground, according to police reports.

Police then went to Anspach's porch to talk to Jeppsen. The troopers asked him to step back, so that they could come onto the porch and speak to him about Anspach's allegations.

According to police, Jeppsen responded by saying he “died” and then refused to let them on the porch. Police again asked to step on the porch and Jeppsen allegedly refused once again, and this time shoved one of the troopers in the chest. The troopers dropped him to the ground using force and Jeppsen allegedly continued to resist arrest, police reports said.

Anspach told the court the charges don't properly reflect the incident. She said Jeppsen's alleged attack was longer and more violent than reflected in the police report, saying several dry wall sheets were destroyed in the struggle between her and Jeppsen.

“I try and put this away, I have PTSD. I know I have to go to counseling. I know I'll get better at some point, but right now I'm not over it,” Anspach said.

After the hearing, Lope said in these types of cases, police would file the charges and prosecutors would take the case on afterward. Rarely, he said, would they add more charges, unless the case was more serious, such as a homicide.

He said police declined to charge Jeppsen with aggravated assault regarding his alleged shoving of the trooper and alleged attack of Anspach. Lope noted for this case to arise to aggravated assault, “it would have to be under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, or he would have had to involve a deadly weapon in the attack.

“Neither of those circumstances were involved here,” he said.

The case will now go through the criminal process again, and Lope said he hopes to settle on something that would satisfy Anspach.