Police arrest ex-wife of former therapist charged in ‘ritualistic child sex abuse’ case
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Pat Reavy, KSL.com
PROVO, Utah (KSL.com)— The ex-wife of a former Provo therapist charged with sexually abusing a young girl 30 years ago is now being accused of the same crime.
Roselle Anderson Stevenson, 70, was arrested Wednesday by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office for investigation of sodomy on a child.
Stevenson is the ex-wife of David Lee Hamblin, who was charged last fall with six counts of sex abuse of a child in one case and in another case is facing three counts of sodomy on a child, two counts of sex abuse of a child and rape of a child.
She is accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1994 in Spring City, Sanpete County, according to the sheriff’s office.
“This investigation has been going on for more than a year with several different witnesses, suspects and victims from all over the state of Utah and further. During this investigation it has been found that (Stevenson) was known to be one of the main suspects in sexually assaulting several children over an extended period,” a police booking affidavit filed Wednesday states.
Stevenson is accused, along with her former husband, of forcing a girl to perform a sex act while being “coached” by Hamblin, the affidavit alleges.
In 2012, Hamblin was charged in 4th District Court with 18 first-degree felonies, including sodomy on a child, multiple counts of rape of a child, and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The case was dismissed without prejudice in 2014. Dismissing a case “without prejudice” means a prosecutor has the option of refiling charges if new evidence arises.
In May 2022, the sheriff’s office issued a statement asking for victims of ritualistic child sexual abuse to contact them. The sheriff’s office declined at the time to say who was being investigated or what kind of ritualistic abuse was occurring.
However, based on its investigation, deputies said they learned that “other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking that occurred in Utah County, Juab County and Sanpete County during the time between 1990 and 2010.”
Prior to that, in April 2022, Hamblin filed a petition with the court requesting that the court records from his previous charges be expunged.
A judge has ordered Stevenson be held in the Utah County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending the filing of formal charges.