In 2022, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office released a statement detailing how “multiple county and federal agencies are investigating reports of ritualistic child sexual abuse from as far back as 1990”.
The Sheriff’s statement noted that the investigation “into ritualistic child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking” in Utah County 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 between 1990 and 2010.
The Sheriff’s office stated that “portions of these allegations” had been confirmed and were being investigated by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with other local and federal agencies. The statement called on the victims or individuals with knowledge of the events to contact the Utah County Sheriff’s Office Special Victim’s Unit.
Following the announcement, researcher Derrick Broze reached out to Sergeant Spencer Cannon, the Public Information Officer with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, asking him to clarify what was meant by “ritualistic sexual abuse”. Sergeant Cannon said this type of case “typically involves a religious component, or people from a religious group”. Cannon also stated, “it can also be systematic abuse that happens over an extended period.”
In a strange twist of events, David Leavitt, the Utah County Attorney at the time, held his own press conference calling for the resignation of Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, the man leading the investigation into ritualized child abuse. Although, the USCO statement never mentioned Leavitt as a suspect, he claimed he and his wife were potential suspects and claimed the Sheriff’s investigation was politically motivated.
David 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. The entire Leavitt family is connected to the Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ, aka the Mormon Church.
During his press conference, Leavitt stated, “I learned that my wife and I were part of those allegations, alleging that we were guilty of cannibalizing young children and murdering young children.”
Leavitt claimed the new investigation is related to charges filed against a former therapist more than 10 years ago. He noted the man was charged in connection to allegations of raping someone he knew from church. Leavitt also claimed the charges were dismissed in 2014 because, “the evidence was so outlandish and so unbelievable.”
Leavitt provided the local media with a 151-page document labeled as a “victim statement” that described the alleged crime. The document included Leavitt’s name, as well as more than a dozen people accused of practicing ritual sexual abuse of children, cannabilism, and murder.
Leavitt described the report as “151 pages of utter baloney” and called the woman who made the allegations “tragically mentally ill.” He called for PIO Sgt. Spencer Cannon and Sheriff Mike Smith to resign. Leavitt also called for an independent investigation into the case to see where the case documents originated from. Leavitt accused the Sheriff’s office of attempting to interfere with the primary elections, which were only weeks away at that time.
Salt Lake City Fox-affiliate FOX 13 News also reported that “multiple confidential sources” confirmed the new investigation related to a therapist who was previously charged with a series of sex crimes against young female family members. The Utah County Attorney’s Office previously dropped charges without prejudice, and the man was not convicted. However, FOX 13 claimed to have records which “indicate the man previously confessed to sexually assaulting at least one of the girls on an undercover phone recording”.
David Lee Hamblin - The disgraced therapist is a man named David Lee Hamblin. In 2012, Hamblin was accused of rape and arrested. The Utah Daily Herald reported at the time that Hamblin was 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 were based on events that reportedly happened between 1991 and 1998.
However, despite the accusations against Hamblin, all the charges would be dismissed in 2014 after prosecutors said they had trouble obtaining the necessary documents to prosecute Hamblin.
Both Hamblin and Leavitt are indeed mentioned in the 151-page document Leavitt shared with the Utah press. While these accounts have not been proven in court, they do provide some insight into what Hamblin and Leavitt have been accused of.
One document labeled “Victim Statement #3” is one of 8 different victim statements included in a larger file from the Provo Police Department’s investigation into David Hamblin.
On page 49 of the document we see the mention of David Leavitt as being involved in a “prostitute house” with children. “He (David Hamblin), David Leavitt, and Joe Bennion would all jokingly call Rosie “Madam” to talk about her running a prostitute house,” the document says. The Rosie mentioned refers to David Hamblin’s then wife, Roselle Hamblin.
A chart describing “Experience #50” lists David and Rosie Hamblin, and David Leavitt as people involved in abuse between 1993 and 1995 at a house in Provo. Under a section titled “Other Occurrences, Times, and Locations” it states:
“This happened at nearly every party or when people came over to our homes, however the frequency refers to how many times this happened with David Leavitt. This also happened when we were at parties of other group members, like when we were at Gordon Bowen’s house for a few different parties. REDACTED often pushed us on to many people trying to get us to have sex with them. She did this at many parties and places she took us.”
The alleged victim goes on to describe David Hamblin and David Leavitt remarking about how they were the “cutest thing”. The statement says “David L. grabbed me around the waist and said that he would love to do that, and kissed me on the forehead. Rosie walked away and on the way out David L. said to David H. that he was going to stop by in the next couple days.”
The statement goes on for another 150 pages describing 118 cases of ritualized sexual abuse.
In September 2022, Utah County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested David Lee Hamblin for multiple first-degree felony sexual offenses against a child. Hamblin, now a 68 year old man, 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.
According to the Probable Cause Statement (reader discretion advised):
“A female victim came forward in April 2022 to report that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by David Hamblin. The sexual assaults began when she was 6 or 7 years old in the mid 1980’s. The victim’s family resided in the same neighborhood as David, located in Provo, UT. The victim stated she would regularly play with David’s children and had been babysat on numerous occasion by David.
The victim asserted that the first sexual assault that she would recall, occurred when she was playing at the Hamblin residence. The victim recounted a time when she had been sexually abused when she was in the basement of the Hamblin home. The victim described a sexual assault where she and two others children were forced to stand in front of David Hamblin while he directed them to take turns, “sucking on his penis.” David forced each child to take turns giving him oral sex while he critiqued and criticized their abilities and efficacy of what they were commanded to do.”
The statement describes additional incidents of abuse, including one involving another female adult. It also notes that David Hamblin had his therapist license revoked by the State of Utah due to allegations of sexually abusing his clients. However, the investigation has found that he continues to perform “therapy” in the form of “healing circles”.
Although Hamblin was originally ordered to be held without bail, in March 2023 he was granted a 100k bail and allowed out on house arrest with an ankle monitor while he awaits his trial.
In August 2023, Hamblin’s ex-wife, Roselle Stevenson, was also arrested by the UCSO for her alleged role in the ritualized child abuse. Stevenson was arrested on one count of sodomy on a child, relating to abuse of a girl under age 13. The alleged incident occurred in Spring City, Utah around the year 1994. Stevenson was ordered to be held without bail.
As of June 2024, David Hamblin is still under house arrest and awaiting trial to face the charges of child abuse.
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By: Derrick Broze...
Raped by: Otto Heckel
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