Ritualistic Child Sex Abuse In Utah
Who is David Lee Hamblin?
In December 2021, David Lee Hamblin, was arrested for child sex abuse in connection with events that allegedly took place in the ‘90s. The accuser had waited to report the abuse to the police for several years due to still being afraid for her life. Hamblin allegedly threatened to kill her & her family if she ever told anyone. The Daily Herald reported Hamblin’s arrest on December 22, 2012. The report stated the incidents started in 1991, when the accuser was just 5 years old, & lasted until 1998.
Hamblin ending up being charged with 12 counts of rape of a child, two counts of sodomy of a child & one count of attempted sodomy on a child, all first-degree felonies, & two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. The prosecuting attorney at the time, David Sturgill, stated the prosecution was having difficulty getting the evidence it needed to move the case forward. Both the prosecution & defense were having difficulty getting medical records & records from the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).
Sturgill made a motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice (remember this fact for later*). Hamblin’s attorney, Michael Esplin, argued at the time for the case to be dismissed with prejudice. Esplin argued in favor of the dismissal due to the statute of limitations running out. Judge Christine Johnson denied all Esplin’s motions due to the statute of limitation having changed in Utah since the alleged crimes took place. Originally the statutes stated the first victims report had to be made within four years from the alleged crime, now there is no limit.
All charges would end up being dismissed without prejudice.
It needs to pointed to that this did not happen due to a lack of information necessarily. The threshold for guaranteeing a conviction is quite high. Due to the double jeopardy clause, if the case were lost for whatever reason, it would never be allowed to be filed again. Judge Johnson mentioned in court before the dismissal that this case demonstrates the issues with prosecuting & bringing to trial older cases.
We can only speculate as to why things were so difficult. As we dive further into the story, It might become a little more clear.
It is worth noting that David Sturgill was quoted in a May 2013 hearing: “The allegations are some of the worst allegations of sexual abuse that I’ve come across in the many years that I’ve been prosecuting these types of cases.”
During that same hearing, Michael Esplin, also discussed the seriousness of the case & the need for a thorough investigation: “If Mr. Hamlin is convicted of these charges, he will never see the light of day,” said Michael Esplin. “I mean, these are – he’ll be there for the rest of his life in prison.”
March 31st, 2022, the Utah County Sheriffs Office (UCSO) made a public statement announcing they were investigating allegations of "ritualistic child sexual abuse" & child sex trafficking.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Special Victims Unit Detectives with <a href="
31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After they started their investigation in April of 2021, they quickly discovered other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse & trafficking that occurred in Utah County, Juab County, & Sanpete County during the time between 1990 & 2010.
The rumors & mischaracterization started to flow online. With such a divisive phrase like “ritualistic child sex abuse” it’s no wonder the locals wanted to know what that means. In a statement made to The Last American Vagabond (LAVB) Spencer Cannon, Public Information Officer with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, clarified the statement by stating this type of crime: “typically involves a religious component, or people from a religious group”. He further included that: “it can also be systematic abuse that happens over an extended period.”
Reporter, Adam Herbets, for Fox 13 News was able to confirm at the time that at least one of the people being investigated was a therapist who had been previously charged with a series of sex crimes against young female family members. Records obtained by FOX 13 News shows the man previously confessed to sexually assaulting at least one of the girls on an undercover phone recording.
The charges were eventually dropped without prejudice by the Utah County Attorney's Office & the man was not convicted.
Quick note regarding the phone recording. This has not been an uncommon thing here in Utah. There have been a few abusive LDS church leaders, of varying positions within the organization, who’s misdeeds have been brought to light due to electronic recordings.
In early 2018, Utah lawmakers filed massive amendments to, HB0330 - COMMUNICATION INTERCEPTION AMENDMENTS which is a Utah law that allows people to record conversations without alerting others who are being recorded. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) put its support behind the bill, claiming HB330 would have protected conversations between church leaders & members.
The citizens of Utah were outraged. Sen. Todd Weiler (R) was quoted saying: “I’ve rarely seen a bill that has had so much opposition so quickly. Obviously, this idea is hitting a nerve with the public, and not in a good way.”
The bill would have made Utah one of about a dozen states with so-called two-party recording consent laws that effectively require all parties of a conversation to consent to being recorded. With all the leaders being caught around this time for abuse, it’s no wonder why some within the church would support this.
The following day, June 1st, after the announcement from UCSO the current Utah County Attorney, David Leavitt, held a press conference calling for not only the resignation of Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, but to also address allegations that he & his wife are under investigation for the alleged cannibalism & murder of children. Calling the allegations “ludicrous,” “outlandish” and a “pack of lies.”
Leavitt claims this is all coming out as a political attack against him. “The sheriff’s office is using its position for political gain,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt is the younger brother of former 3-time Utah Governor Michael Okerlund Leavitt. The father of the two men is Dixie Leavitt, the founder of the Leavitt Group, one of the largest independent insurance brokers in the nation.
Leavitt noted that prosecutors filed charges against one man roughly 10 years ago but said the case was subsequently dismissed “because the evidence was so outlandish & so unbelievable.”
A prosecutor made a motion to dismiss charges of child rape & sexual abuse “due to trouble getting discovery to defense counsel,” according to court records. The case was dismissed without prejudice.* (Remember this fact?)
Leavitt said the man charged with these disturbing allegations was his neighbor for a time & someone he knew from church. Leavitt also added that he testified against the man at a divorce proceeding because he believed the man to be a danger to his children.
Leavitt provided copies of a 151-page document labeled “victim statement” that describes the alleged crimes in graphic detail including the naming of Leavitt, his wife, & more than a dozen others as part of a group that practiced ritual sexual abuse of children.
Leavitt called the report “151 pages of utter baloney” & described the woman who reported the allegations to authorities as “tragically mentally ill.”
Within 2 hours of Leavitt’s bizarre press conference, Sheriff Mike Smith responded with his own to address Leavitt’s strange reaction.
Smith said he will not be resigning & promised that his department will continue to investigate. “I will tell you right now, I think that this is probably the best way we could use public funds is to investigate child sexual abuse,” said Sheriff Smith.
Smith acknowledged that the case mentioned by Leavitt is connected to the current investigation. When questioned by reporters about the full extent of his investigation he acknowledged that the FBI has been involved in the investigation.
“As we investigated those crimes they led us to the case Mr. Leavitt mentioned… As we looked into it we found further corroborating evidence that these things had happened & needed to be investigated,” Smith said. “We believe, I believe, that Leavitt is using his authority & his pulpit to bully, distract, and mischaracterize the facts of this investigation.”
Smith addressed Leavitt’s attack on the alleged victim. “I take exception to any victim who comes forward & is characterized as tragically mentally ill, how dare you?” he stated. "Don't be misled by statements by Leavitt that are sensational. The main focus of this investigation is child sexual abuse,” Smith said. “Several times David Leavitt named himself & mentioned cannibalism & murder. This investigation is about child sexual abuse.”
Unfortunately the crazy didn’t stop here. Leavitt went on to have a conversation with ABC 4 News which did not fare well for him. Among many reasons but one reason was for calling Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith a “Q anon Sheriff”.
In a statement made to TLAV, Sheriff Smith stated: “We are investigating the sexual abuse of children. The only one making statements about Qanon info is Leavitt. We find it interesting he is trying to divert attention away from the legitimacy of an investigation into the sexual abuse of children.”
In David Leavitt’s June 1st press conference he had referenced the 2012 David Lee Hamblin case. Leavitt, his wife, & a dozen others were named in a victim statement alleging that Leavitt & his wife both took part in ritualistic sex abuse. Leavitt told KSL that his predecessor, prosecutor David Sturgill, dismissed the case because “the allegations were so untenable & unbelievable.”
Leavitt said the allegations are “100% false,” but when pressed by reporters about details surrounding the dismissal of the case, admitted he had not reviewed the casefile himself. He said the records are not digitized & would take several days to locate. “I will make those files available to the extent they are allowed under the law,” he said. “I have nothing to hide.”
Courtroom audio obtained by KSL Investigators provided more insight into the dismissal of the felony child sex abuse charges brought against Hamblin. The recordings proved that what Leavitt’s said does not match up with official court records.
Neither attorney expressed that these claims were untenable or outlandish. David Sturgill & Michael Esplin both expressed the gravity of the alleged crimes. As well as both attorney’s pointing to the delay in the victim reporting the situation to the authorities, & difficulty in obtaining records from DCFS & various medical providers as the reason for the dismissal.
There is a lot going on in this case. Trying to get to the truth & shine a light on this topic is deeply important to me as it hit’s home. We will get into that in future articles. There is a lot of layer’s to pull back & see under. For now I’m going to end this article here. I am digging through a bunch of information including victim statements, videos, & archival newspaper articles. Next article we will be diving into Conspiracies, Cults & the Satanic Panic of the ‘70s & ‘80s.
I would like to dig through this so we can separate the hysterics, lies, & misdirection found in these topics so as to get into the truth. Starting with the evidence that was made public by citizen journalist Jenny Hatch of Healthyfamilies.life which has done an incredible job. Special shout out to Derrick Broze of The Conscious Resistance for the hard work & his reporting on this.
There is A LOT to this story & as an independent I cannot focus on this full time. If you found this valuable, please share this to everyone & get the word out. Don’t forget to check out Rise To Liberty Podcast. All links down below.
Sharing this in the podcast post!