Gary Lee Bell

Gary Bell Mormon Sex Crime Case Summary

Gary 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.

On June 20, 2023, Bell was sentenced in a separate case (221401946). He had pleaded guilty to 15 counts of 2nd degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor, and two counts of class B misdemeanor voyeurism. No additional prison time was added.