An admitted child abuser may see charges against him dropped on Thursday after a 2-year delay in his prosecution for multiple counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child.
David Lee Hamblin, a 68-year-old former therapist from Provo, Utah who has admitted to abusing his own daughters and stands accused of abusing other children, may potentially be released from house arrest and see charges against him dropped after two years of courtroom delays. However, on Wednesday afternoon — after dozens of emails and phone calls — the Utah Attorney General’s Office finally assigned a prosecutor to his case for his next hearing on Thursday morning.
Advocates for the acknowledged and alleged victims continue to call on the public to contact the Utah Attorney General’s Office to demand they prosecute David Hamblin. A protest is also being organized for Thursday morning at the courthouse in American Fork, Utah.
Hamblin was arrested in September 2022 by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office for multiple first-degree felony sexual offenses against a child. He was booked for 3 counts of sodomy of a child, 1 count of rape of a child, 2 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and 1 misdemeanor count of lewdness involving a child.
Hamblin was the first suspect to be arrested in the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) investigation into reports of ritualistic child sexual abuse from as far back as 1990. In May 2022, the UCSO announced they were working with multiple county and federal agencies on the investigation which originally began in April 2021. The investigation subsequently discovered previous reports alleging “similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking” that occurred in Utah County, Juab County, and Sanpete County during the time between 1990 and 2010. His ex-wife, Roselle Stevenson, was also arrested in August 2023 on one count of sodomy of a child, a first degree felony, for an offense against a girl under age 13.
The two are alleged to be a part of a larger ring of child abusers based in and around Utah, some whom have membership in the
Two Years of Delays
Although Hamblin was arrested in 2022 and is facing multiple felonies in multiple counties in Utah, he was allowed out on house arrest in March 2023, and the case has largely stalled. Goel at Investigations in Ritual Abuse has done a great job following the details of the case and the various connections which may hint at why this case is moving slowly.
Judge Roger Griffin has said there is a conflict of interest in the Hamblin case, specifically in the County Attorney’s office. Goel notes that Juab County Attorney Ryan Peters was deputized as a special prosecutor by the State Attorney General’s Office. Shortly after, Governor Spencer Cox nominated Peters as a judge. This left the Hamblin case without a prosecutor.
“In October 2023, Peters filed to transfer the case back to Utah County, where alleged Church of Satan member, child rapist and child murderer David Leavitt was no longer the county attorney, thereby eliminating the conflict of interest,” IRA writes.
Unfortunately, Judge Griffin rejected the motion to transfer the case. Due to there being no prosecutor on the Hamblin case, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray filed an interlocutory appeal to the Utah Court of Appeals. That appeal was denied on May 9th.
Now, Hamblin’s attorney Leah Aston has filed a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute. Judge Griffin has said he will grant this dismissal if there is no prosecutor assigned to the case within 30 days time. IRA also reports that Deputy Attorney Perkins from the UCAO stated that it was their position that the case was now in the hands of the Utah State Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office has been notified that they must file a notice to appear before Judge Griffin, or choose not to send an attorney and see the case against Hamblin dismissed for failure to prosecute.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office emailed advocate Jenny Hatch to notify her that they have assigned an as-yet-unnamed prosecutor to the Hamblin case. The Last American Vagabond (TLAV) was able to verify this directly from the UAGO.
If the charges against Hamblin are dropped this would mark the second time accusations and charges against him were brought to court and later dropped for lack of prosecution. In 2012, Hamblin was arrested on similar charges to the ones he faces now. The Utah Daily Herald reported at the time:
“A Provo man was arrested earlier this week on several rape charges stemming from incidents in the 1990s. David Hamblin is being charged with 12 counts of rape of a child, three counts of sodomy of a child, one count of attempted sodomy of a child, all first-degree felonies, and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.
The charges are based on events that reportedly happened between 1991 and 1998.”
Disturbingly, the charges against Hamblin were dropped despite him being recorded apologizing to his daughter for raping her. A 2003 custody hearing relating to Hamblin’s divorce found evidence that Hamblin had sexually abused his two oldest daughters, Rachel and Eliza.
Additionally, Kate Talley, the ex-wife of Hamblin’s best friend, Eldon, told TLAV in October 2022 that Hamblin admitted to her that he was guilty of “a few of the things in the witness statements (from the 2012 case)“, stating that he “used to have very out of balance sexual energy“.
When reached for comment about the potential of charges against David Hamblin being dropped for a second time, Talley said the victims deserve support.
“As a citizen and tax payer I am very upset and angry that Utah County has not been able to even show up for victims lately. The crimes David Hamblin has been charged with are absolutely horrid,” Talley told TLAV exclusively. “As a victim of David Hamblin’s healing circle I feel that there is a conspiracy within the government of Utah and the LDS Church to keep this case quiet. I’m not OK with that.”
Stay tuned for additional updates on the Hamblin case.
Please support the confirmed and alleged victims of David Hamblin by calling the Attorney General’s Office at (801) 366-0260 to demand they prosecute David Lee Hamblin. You can also email to tell them to prosecute David Hamblin at [email protected] and [email protected]
Source: The Last American Vagabond
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