The Utah County Sheriff in Utah expressed shock after learning that a federal court judge dismissed with prejudice six charges against former psychologist David Hamblin related to ritualistic child sex abuse.
On Feb, 19, Special Assistant Attorney General Nathan Evershed filed a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice.
“The basis for this motion is primarily based upon evidentiary concerns which have emerged in the case,” Evershed wrote.
“Additionally, discovery problems have persisted in this vast and extensive case, which is a secondary factor in this motion.”
Judge Roger Griffin of Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court dismissed the charges after determining that Utah County investigators and prosecutors had withheld crucial evidence that could have supported Hamblin’s defense.
“Allegations like the ones raised in this case require careful scrutiny,” the judge wrote in an opinion filed on March 20.
“Sexual abuse is abhorrent and elicits a sense of deep horror and revulsion. However, it is our respect for fundamental rights protected by our constitutions that requires that a criminally accused defendant be given a fair trial.”
By dismissing the case with prejudice, authorities are barred from filing new charges, even if additional evidence emerges.
“Basically, [the judge] dismissed it with prejudice, so he’s literally taken us out of the game,” an investigator with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office told The Epoch Times.
Sheriff’s Office ‘Shocked’
On March 27, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Mike Smith, issued a statement in response to the judge’s ruling, expressing its “shock” at the decision.“The Utah County Sheriff’s Office disputes several of the alleged facts that the court included as support for this outcome in its ruling and order,” the statement said.
“Contrary to that ruling, the Sheriff’s Office timely provided prosecutors with all evidence related to this case so that they could disclose it under the rules of discovery in criminal cases.”
During the court proceedings, the defendant’s attorney raised several questions about alleged failures to disclose evidence, including the victim’s statements.
The Sheriff’s Office anticipated that the court would address these issues during an evidentiary hearing.
The statement said that this would enable investigators to explain the evidence submitted to the prosecution and respond to any relevant concerns regarding the disclosure process.
“Had an evidentiary hearing been held, the Sheriff’s Office believes that its investigators would have been able to demonstrate that they had timely provided all relevant evidence to the prosecution,” the statement said.
“This complete lack of due process resulting in the dismissal of heinous charges of sex abuse of a child based on an incomplete evidentiary picture is extremely concerning.”
These charges followed a year-long investigation that began in 2021 and involved more than 130 witnesses and alleged victims.
One of the alleged victims, a now middle-aged woman, reported that Hamblin began sexually molesting her when she was a minor in the mid-1980s.
The witness told police that the incidents occurred at residences in Provo and Spring City until around 1990.
Hamblin, who was a licensed psychotherapist working in Provo, was charged with sexually assaulting a male patient in 2012.
He eventually lost his therapy license.
The Utah County Attorney’s Office ultimately dismissed the case.
She faces charges that include first-degree sodomy of a child.
The Sheriff’s Office said that the alleged assault took place in the mid-1990s, when the victim was a minor, and is directly related to the case against Hamblin.
“The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is committed to investigating sexual assaults and all crimes against children whether they occurred recently or years ago,” the March 27 statement said.
“The life-altering impact on child victims is the same. The fact that the court dismissed with prejudice these charges against David Hamblin without one word of testimony from the victim or the investigators is abhorrent.”
