Russell Kenneth Gatrell

Sources

1. "Fear Not; I Am with Thee" - Jean A. Stevens, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 6, 2014.
2. Utahn arrested with maybe millions of sex abuse images and lifelike AI photos, police say, KSL, August 26, 2025.

• 1. "Fear Not; I Am with Thee" - Jean A. Stevens

  • 20140406
  • News article
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

  • original
  • archived
  • back to list

  A few years ago a faithful family exemplified for members of our ward that same trust in the Lord. Arn and Venita Gatrell were living a happy life when Arn was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. The prognosis was devastating—he had just a few weeks to live. The family wanted to be together one last time. So all the children gathered, some from distant locations. They had only 48 precious hours to spend together. The Gatrells carefully chose what mattered most to them—a family picture, a family dinner, and a session in the Salt Lake Temple. Venita said, “When we walked out of the temple doors, it was the last time we would ever be together in this life.”

  But they left with the assurance that there is so much more for them than just this life. Because of sacred temple covenants, they have hope in God’s promises. They can be together forever.

  The next two months were filled with blessings too numerous to recount. Arn and Venita’s faith and trust in the Lord were growing, as evidenced in Venita’s words: “I was carried. I learned that you can feel peace in the midst of turmoil. I knew the Lord was watching over us. If you trust in the Lord, truly you can overcome any of life’s challenges.”

  One of their daughters added: “We watched our parents and saw their example. We saw their faith and how they handled it. I would never have asked for this trial, but I would never give it away. We were surrounded with God’s love.”

  Of course, Arn’s passing was not the outcome the Gatrells had hoped for. But their crisis was not a crisis of faith. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it lives in our hearts. The gospel “is not weight; it is wings.” It carries us. It carried the Gatrells. They felt peace in the midst of the storm. They held fast to each other and to temple covenants they had made and kept. They grew in their ability to trust in the Lord and were strengthened by their faith in Jesus Christ and in His atoning power.

• 2. Utahn arrested with maybe millions of sex abuse images and lifelike AI photos, police say

  • 20250826
  • News article
  • KSL

  • original
  • archived
  • back to list

  COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — A Cottonwood Heights man was arrested Tuesday after police said he may have thousands — or possibly millions — of images of child sex abuse material stored on his hard drives, and has also been creating lifelike AI images of child sex abuse material.

  Russell Kenneth Gatrell, 45, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of five counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.

  The investigation began on June 25, when the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force began investigating a person sharing child sexual abuse material.

  "Investigators received 139 files from an IP address in Cottonwood Heights," a police booking affidavit states. On Tuesday, investigators served a search warrant at Gatrell's residence.

  "Gatrell admitted to viewing, downloading, and sharing child sexual abuse material from his residence. Gatrell admitted to storing the child sexual abuse material on a network storage device which contained upwards of 15 hard drives totaling approximately 280TB of storage," the affidavit states.

  Gatrell told investigators he has an "unknown" amount of child sex abuse material stored on the hard drives, and estimated the total amount could be more than 100GB, according to the affidavit.

  "It is believed that, at a minimum, Gatrell has been storing child sex abuse material across 280TB of storage, which could store approximately 56 million to 280 million photographs depending on the quality," the affidavit says.

  Gatrell has also been using AI to create child sex abuse material from stock images, according to investigators.

  "Computer scientists with the FBI conducted an initial review of the AI Gatrell was using and determined it was incredibly advanced and that Gatrell was likely using images of identifiable children from the internet to create this child sex abuse material," according to the affidavit.

  The investigation into exactly how much child sex abuse material Gatrell has allegedly collected was ongoing as of Tuesday.