SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature is moving forward with a bill that would criminalize “ritualistic” abuse of children.
If it passes, the bill would define ritual abuse for the first time in Utah history. It has now received a “favorable recommendation” from the House Judiciary Committee.
With tears in her eyes and her voice shaking, Cara Baldree decided to testify in favor of the bill while holding a picture of a young girl in her arms.
“I’m speaking up for her. I’m speaking up for her because she’s the bravest little girl,” Baldree said. “If I could go back in time, I would hug her and tell her she is beautiful.”
As it turns out, the photo of the young girl was Baldree in the 1980s. She held her own picture, surrounded by other survivors of ritualistic abuse.
The testimony helped convince a panel of lawmakers to favorably recommend the bill, which would designate ritualistic abuse as a second-degree felony and lengthen the statute of limitations for other sex-related offenses.
“Today was a victory for my little girl self that had her voice stolen,” Baldree said.
Child abuse is currently a misdemeanor under Utah statute. Aggravated child abuse, which contemplates a "serious physical injury" to the child, only rises to the level of a second-degree felony if intentional.
READ: Utah considers bill defining 'ritualistic' abuse of children
According to the bill, the word “ritual” means “an event or act or a series of events or acts marked by specific actions, gestures, or words, designed to commemorate, celebrate, or solemnize a particular occasion or significance in a religious, cultural, social, institutional, or other context.”
The bill would prohibit the following acts, so long as they are intentional and "cause substantial psychological distress or bodily injury to a child."
(1) Causing a child to participate in or witness...
- the torture, mutilation, or sacrifice of an animal
- the dissection, mutilation, or incineration of a human corpse
- the causing of serious bodily injury to an individual
- bestiality
- sadistic or masochistic activities
- the ingestion or external application of human bones, blood, flesh, human vomit, animal vomit, saliva, urine, semen, fecal material, or other bodily secretion
- an activity that would constitute a criminal offense
(2) Causing a child to...
- enter a coffin or open grave containing a human corpse or remains
- participate in a mock, unauthorized, or unlawful marriage ceremony as an individual being married to another individual or a fictional representation
- ingest, inject, or otherwise intake a chemical compound, narcotic, drug, hallucinogen, or anesthetic
(3) Threatening a child, or the child's parents, family, pets, or friends with...
- death
- serious bodily injury
- other criminal activitiy
(4) Deprives a child of sleep, food, or water
(5) Binds or confines a child
(6) Otherwise acts to cause to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any individual
If convicted, imprisonment would be mandatory. The law carves out exceptions for legitimate medical care and "reasonable discipline or management of a child." The law also carves out exceptions for self-defense.
Baldree described ritual abuse as involving chains, cannibalism, and child prostitution.
“(My perpetrator) made me believe I was a whore at seven years old,” Baldree said. “The psychological effects from that are never-ending... Sometimes he would urinate on me after the abuse to remind me of my worthlessness and do things involving rituals and mutilated animals.”
Another survivor testified she was “smeared with human feces for ritualistic reasons” as part of her abuse.
Cindy Metcalf, the executive director of an anti-human trafficking nonprofit called Relentless Hope, testified that she and her partners “have interviewed over 190 survivors of ritual abuse.”
As part of her testimony, she addressed anyone who believes ritualistic abuse is simply a conspiracy theory.
“The ‘satanic panic’ theory has been debunked,” Metcalf said.
The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan.
“This is horrific, heinous, vile conduct,” Ivory said. “I had a survivor tell me that, as a child, she was told that they had planted a bomb inside of her and that if she told anyone? They could detonate the bomb... There is a general culture in child sexual abuse that it’s bad to tell. Someone will hurt you if you tell. They’ll hurt your family members if you tell. They won’t believe you if you tell.”
In response to several questions and hypotheticals, Ivory said nobody is going to "accidentally commit ritualistic abuse."
"That's not going to happen," Ivory said. "It's not going to happen in the course of any known religion."
There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the topic of ritual abuse in Utah over the past few years.
Brett Bluth, a survivor who also testified in favor of the bill, was interviewed by FOX 13 News in 2022 after the Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced it had received tips from more than 130 potential victims of ritualistic abuse.
The agency described the majority of those tips as “credible.”
Bluth testified that he was the victim of ritualistic abuse at the hands of a Utah therapist named David Hamblin.
“Hypnosis was a big part of it,” Bluth said. “That was his main technique.”
Bluth said his therapy included “torture therapy, suffocation therapy, rape therapy.”
Hamblin and his ex-wife, Roselle "Rosie" Stevenson, are currently facing charges of sexual assault after being arrested by the Utah County Sheriff's Office based on the reports of other alleged victims.
Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith said he could not speak about the investigation because it is ongoing.
“Without a doubt, these things do happen,” Smith said. “I was attacked (for believing the victims). I was ridiculed. I’ve had memes made about me because of it.”
Former Utah County Attorney David Leavitt held a press conference in 2022, naming himself as a suspect of ritualistic abuse. During the press conference, he announced that he is not a cannibal and described his prior relationship with Hamblin.
“There is no organized ring of abuse,” Leavitt said. “It was debunked more than 10 years ago.”
Despite the high-profile cases, Ivory said other cases happen even more often than the public realizes – which is why he believes the law needs to change.
“I know of heard a little bit some of the things in the news,” Ivory said. “It wasn’t really something fully in my awareness, but now I’ve got a constituent (Baldree). This is her story... She just started to cry, and she said, ‘They believe me. The legislature believed me.’”
Idaho and Texas have similar laws contemplating the ritualistic abuse of children.
The House Judiciary Committee favorably recommended the bill. The vote was nearly unanimous, with Rep. Brian King (D-Salt Lake City) voting against the bill.
“I’m not there on the ritual abuse yet,” King said. “I want more research. I want more information.”
Utah has studied ritualistic abuse in the past.
A 1992 study published by the Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse concluded "ritual abuse was occurring in Utah as a significant problem and recommended that the legislature appropriate $250,000 to the Utah Attorney General's Office to hire four investigators for a year."
The legislation now moves on to the rest of the Utah House of Representatives for a vote.
