Details | Videos
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Case videos
Add info | Back to top- Video title: 6pm Hit - Former prosecutor re arrested on alleged sex crimes
- Video description: Gary Lee Bell, 66, of Spanish Fork was booked into the Utah County Jail on Tuesday, Sept. 13, after Detectives found child pornography they believe he produced. - ABC4 Utah - 2022-09-16
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-cCMz4mogI
- Video title: Former Utah child protection official arrested on child pornography charges
- Video description: A former prosecutor who worked in the Child Protection Division of the Utah Attorney General's Office has been arrested for the alleged possession of child pornography. - FOX 13 News Utah - 2022-08-25
- https://youtu.be/_jRUKIKfcoY
- Video title: Former child protection official rearrested after allegedly producing child pornography
- Video description: Former child protection official rearrested after allegedly producing child pornography - FOX 13 News Utah - 2022-09-15
Case summary
Add info | Back to topGary Lee Bell was married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1986. His father, also an LDS church member, died in 1971 when Bell was 14.
From 2008-2020, Bell worked as an Assistant Attorney General at the Utah Attorney General’s Office, in the Child Protection Division.
In 2020, Bell resigned from the Attorney General’s Office after allegations of misconduct. Pornography had been found on his work computer.
Bell allegedly produced child pornography and allegedly sexually molested a baby girl who was one to two years old. He was arrested at his home in Spanish Fork, Utah in August 2022, released and then arrested again in September.
On August 24, 2022, Bell was arrested.
In August 2022, Bell’s wife told officers that he had attempted to secretly record her without permission while she was in the shower.
On September 13, 2022, Bell was arrested again.
In September 2022, Bell was charged with two first degree felonies and 12 second degree felonies related to sexual abuse of a child.
Also in September 2022, Bell’s wife filed a protective order against him and filed for divorce.
In December 2022, Bell agreed to plea guilty or no contest to four second degree felony charges relating to child sexual abuse: two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, one count of sodomy upon a child, and one count of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
In court documents obtained by FLOODLIT, Bell agreed to the following statement: “On or about September 13, 2022, in Utah County, the Defendant took indecent liberties and engaged in a sexual act with a victim that was under the age of 14 and the sexual act involved the genitals or anus of the actor or the individual and the mouth or anus of either the actor or individual. The Defendant took two photographs of the act that were later recovered on Defendant’s hard drive.”
On January 17, 2023, Bell was sentenced in January 2023 to one to 15 years in prison. The sentencing took place in the 4th District Court in Provo. Case number: 221402164 FS. Bell is currently in the Utah County Jail as of January 24, 2023.
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Sources
- obituary of the accused's father (archive) - Park Record - 27 May 1971
- the accused was married in the Salt Lake LDS temple (archive) - Uintah Basin Standard - 15 Oct 1986
- obituary of the accused's mother (archive) - Deseret News - 29 Dec 2005
- Former Utah child protection official arrested on child pornography charges (archive) - FOX 13 Salt Lake City - 25 Aug 2022
- Before child porn arrest, lawyer retired from Utah AG’s Office amid allegations of misconduct (archive) - KSL - 7 Sep 2022
- Former attorney with Utah AG’s Office faces 14 additional charges related to sexual exploitation of baby (archive) - Gephardt Daily - 15 Sep 2022
- Gary Lee Bell Arrested For Child Sexual Abuse And Exploitation Charges (archive) - Utah County press release - 15 Sep 2022
- Utah AG’s Office reveals pornography was found on former attorney’s work computer two years ago (archive) - KSL - 16 Sep 2022
LDS/Mormon church membership history
Add info | Back to topLDS mission information
The accused did not serve a full-time LDS mission.
LDS temple marriage information
FLOODLIT is not aware whether the accused was married in a Mormon temple.
Alleged victim(s)
Add info | Back to top- Number of alleged victim(s) - note if approximate:
- Average age of alleged victim(s) at time of alleged crime(s):
LDS church response(s)
Add info | Back to top- Alleged failure to report by local LDS leaders? no
- Alleged misconduct by local LDS leaders? no
- Alleged misconduct by global LDS leaders? no
FLOODLIT is not aware whether the Mormon church paid any settlement amounts related to this case.
