Special investigators with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office in Utah arrested a Provo man on charges of alleged ritualistic child sex abuse stemming from a year-long investigation that is likely to produce more suspects and arrests.
David Lee Hamblin, 68, was arrested in Provo on Sept. 28 by members of the sheriff’s special victims unit and charged with first-degree felony rape of a child, sodomy of a child, aggravated abuse of a child, and lewdness involving a child, a misdemeanor.
A Utah County judge ordered Hamblin held without bail at the county jail pending his arraignment. Juab County Attorney Ryan Peters will serve as special prosecutor in the case in that jurisdiction.
“We feel like we have [made] progress and anticipate there will be more arrests in the future,” Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon told The Epoch Times.
Hamblin’s arrest marks the first break in the investigation that began in early 2021, producing more than 130 witnesses and alleged victims.
One victim, a woman in her forties, told investigators she was 6 or 7 when Hamblin allegedly began sexually molesting her in the mid-1980s.
“The victim’s family resided in the same neighborhood as David,” according to Hamblin’s booking statement. “The victim stated she would regularly play with David’s children and had been babysat on a number of occasions by David.”
The document describes in lurid detail how Hamblin allegedly continued sexually assaulting the child, at one point forcing multiple children to take turns performing a sex act on him.
“The female victim recounted several other assaults inflicted upon her by David Hamblin,” the statement added. “This occurred at the Hamblin home in Spring City, Utah” before the victim’s 13th birthday.
The alleged incidents occurred at residences in Provo and Spring City over many years until around 1990.
Suspect Was Licensed Therapist
According to investigators, Hamblin worked as a licensed therapist in Provo, where he faced charges that he sexually abused a male patient in 2012.
While the Utah County Attorney’s Office eventually dropped those charges, Hamblin had his therapy license revoked in Utah.
By Allan Stein
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