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Friends of a South Salt Lake man accused of kidnapping two kids say the case is a hate crime. David Bell's attorney says the facts will come out in this case. He says the charges stem from a misunderstanding and a one-sided investigation.
Calling his arrest an injustice, supports of David Bell packed the courtroom. David Bell's sister, Emily Gammell, says, "I guess the most upsetting thing to me is that my brother is accused of doing something he would never do. He was always such a generous big brother. He was always willing to take me around with him, and he would never hurt someone else's kids, let alone go in their house and take them."
Bell is accused of kidnapping his neighbor's 2-year-old daughter and 4-year old nephew on July 4. The girl's mother, who did not want to be identified in a past interview, said she was outside with other adults when she heard her other daughter crying. She said, "I noticed my 2-year-old missing, so I searched the whole house. I guess by instinct, I just went directly over to the neighbor's house and found the children and him and his partner in the bedroom."
In his mug shot, Bell has cuts and bruises on his face. Police say the victim's relatives assaulted Bell, leading his friends and family to call this a hate crime. Roger Kraft, Bell's attorney, says, "I can tell you from the police reports, everything indicates that the family members jumped to conclusion, that simply because they're homosexual that they must be child molesters too."
Gammell says, "I believe that they decided that they had an excuse and it would be tolerated because they had a good reason to do what they chose to do."
Bell's attorney says this is not a kidnapping case, but a case of child neglect. Kraft says, "This is a case where parents had no idea where their kids were or what they were doing at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning because they'd been out drinking all night."
In court the children's mothers pleaded with the judge to deny bail and to keep Bell in jail. They said their children have nightmares and they don't want Bell near other children.
The judge will wait for pretrial services, which monitors defendants, to do an evaluation before she makes that decision. Prosecutors say the appropriate charges were filed based on the evidence that they had. Police deny claims the investigation was one-sided.
Meanwhile, a lot of people are asking how come the victim's relatives were not charged with assault. Prosecutors say the case is still under review.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
