Report: https://floodlit.org/a/a780/
Download the court document: https://floodlit.org/bassett-2024-motion-dismiss/
In June 2024, Mormon church member and former air traffic controller Alan Bassett was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing several children between 1977 and 1989 in Fruit Heights, Utah.
Investigators said the victims ranged in age at the time between 5 and 10 years old.
Bassett reportedly told investigators, “If they said I did it, I did it. Why would they lie?”
Bassett “admitted that he sexually abused many neighbor children while he was living in Davis County. He did not could not [sic] recall the total number of victims,” investigators said.
‘Any of his sexual activities’: a 1989 agreement
In August, Bassett’s attorneys filed a motion in Utah’s 2nd Judicial District Court saying the charges violated a “non-prosecution agreement made between the parties in 1989.”
You can download a copy of the motion:
https://floodlit.org/bassett-2024-motion-dismiss/
The motion said that the Davis County Attorney’s Office entered into an agreement with Bassett, promising not to prosecute him for “any of his sexual activities” between February 13, 1978, and May 1989, provided that he:
1. “[R]emain enrolled and successfully complete [a] sexual abuse treatment program.”
2. Register as a sex offender.
3. Report quarterly to the county sheriff’s department and the deputy district attorney, “including in those reports written reports from his therapist and proof of [sex offender] registration.”
4. Have “no contact with any victims […] except upon approval from the State,” after a recommendation from his therapist.
5. “[P]ay for all costs for his victims’ therapy as well as the costs of his own therapy.”
6. “[M]eet and disclose his conduct and activities to all of the victims and their parents.”
The agreement stated that the restrictions on Bassett would “remain in effect for two years.”
In 2024, Bassett’s defense noted that “a signed copy of the agreement has not been discovered by either party,” but argued it was executed and performed based on Bassett’s compliance letter and the state’s 35-year delay in filing charges.
The agreement was negotiated between Bassett’s attorney Robert Faust – a son of Mormon apostle James Faust who is now a judge in Utah’s 3rd District Court – and a deputy district attorney (another Mormon priesthood holder).
“Thank you for your cooperation in allowing me continue to live at home and support my family while receiving therapy,” Bassett wrote to a Davis County Sheriff’s Office sergeant (also a Mormon man) in 1989 as part of an agreed-upon quarterly progress report.
Did a Mormon bishop cover up abuse?
In an evidentiary hearing on Mar. 7, Bassett said “said he confessed to a bishop in his local church congregation over 35 years ago and was pushed to turn himself in to police.” Bassett “said he was motivated to confess because he ‘wanted to get over this,’ referring to a ‘sexual addiction.'” (source: https://ksltv.com/crime-public-safety/many-women-testify-of-sexual-abuse-over-35-years-ago-in-fruit-heights/748638/)
However, in a 2019 civil lawsuit, a victim we’ll call Melissa said her parents “were called into meetings with [Bassett] and Dean Wade, the bishop of their Mormon ward” in approximately 1984.
Melissa alleged that “at their meeting, [Bassett] told [Melissa’s] parents that he was sorry for what he had done, and that he was happy to pay for therapy for [Melissa].”
“[Bassett] did not disclose the exact nature of the actions for which he was apologizing. [Bassett] and Bishop Wade asked [Melissa’s] parents to forgive [Bassett]. Following this meeting, [Bassett] continued to sexually assault and rape young [Melissa],” the lawsuit said.
Melissa also sued Bassett in 1990. That case was dismissed without prejudice “for lack of prosecution” after Melissa said she was “having a difficult time in determining whether continued prosecution is justified by the emotional distress.”
Dozens of survivors have come forward
Since Bassett’s 2024 arrest, 80+ victims have come forward, according to multiple victims who spoke with FLOODLIT. Multiple of them say they were sexually abused by Bassett after 1989.
On Mar. 7, many of them testified against Bassett at an evidentiary hearing.
Here’s how the hearing ended:
“[The judge] ordered bailiffs to take Bassett, to his clear surprise, into custody pending trial. He was cuffed in front of many of the women who had just testified against him, who celebrated in the hallways afterward. More witnesses will be called at a later date, likely in April, before Valencia rules on the motion to dismiss.” (source: https://ksltv.com/crime-public-safety/many-women-testify-of-sexual-abuse-over-35-years-ago-in-fruit-heights/748638/)
If you knew Alan Bassett or attended the LDS Church in Fruit Heights, Utah in the 1980s, please contact us.
Documents and case updates available on our website: https://floodlit.org/a/a780/
