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Show Washington County Attorney's Office Looks Into Allegations Against State's North Star Witness The Washington County Attorney's Attor-ney's Office acknowledged Tuesday that it is now looking into allegations allega-tions that the state's star witness in the high profile North Star case molested teenage boys who were under his supervision in the program while he served as a counselor. The North Star case, in which owners and employees of the wilderness program for troubled teens are charged by the State of Utah with felonies in the death of 16-year-old Aaron Bacon in March of 1994, is scheduled for trial in October after two earlier delays. It has been the subject of nationwide media attention for the past two years. The State Attorney General's Office in Salt Lake City had knowledge of a confession by former North Star counselor Mike Hill that he had sexual acts with two teenage boys enrolled in the program while he served at North Star. The state learned of the allegations against Hill from Aaron Bacon's mother, Sally Bacon, and from Diane Bean, mother of one of the one of the alleged victims. Bean said the state had knowledge knowl-edge that Hill had molested her son before it filed charges against North Star, because she told them about it. And, she said, the Attorney General's office acknowleged it knew that Hill had confessed that he molested her son. Repeated and determined attempts by Bean to get one of the offices to pursue an investigation on. the basis of the information it had and take action proved fruitless for more than 18 v months. Bean said she even wrote the judge in the case and others, trying try-ing to get action from the state. As Bean was being thwarted at every turn, the state of Utah used Hill as a compelling and convincing convin-cing state's witness against his former employers and co-workers at the preliminary hearing a year ago in which the accused owners and employees were bound over for trial. He returned to Arizona and the state steadfastly has refused to reveal his whereabouts. He has appeared on nationally shown television tele-vision shows speaking out against his North Star employers and co workers. So when Diane Bean received a telephone call on May 30 from Assistant Washington County Attorney Marlynn Lema saying that Lema was checking into the allegations allega-tions she had made against Hill, Bean said she was astonished. She is, she said, cooperating fully with the Washington County office and is grateful that they are finally looking into the events she first outlined to the State Attorney General's Office on Oct. 17, 1994. She said her son, who was 1 7 at the time the alleged molestation occurred, oc-curred, just celebrated his 20th birthday. He is preparing a written statement for Lema at her request, and Bean says she hopes to see everything move forward speedily. Jeanne Seymour of Thousand Oaks, Calif, said she had faxed a copy of her son's statement to Lema. Her son also alleges sexual misconduct by Hill. Lema, however, said that the state can choose not to prosecute if, after they complete their investigation, investi-gation, they find there is insufficient insuffi-cient evidence to do so. She said that, even with admissions of guilt, "if those admissions are not supported sup-ported by evidence" the state can choose not to prosecute. Lema said she does not know where Hill is and has not interviewed inter-viewed him. When asked, she acknowledged ac-knowledged that she has no assurance assur-ance that he is not again serving as a counselor with youth. "The biggest concern I would have," she said, would be that those hiring him would not investigate his background. Lema said she has no particular time frame for the check into the allegations that she is conducting. She said the Washington County Attorney's Office does not have its own investigator and would have to contract with a professional, perhaps from another agency, if it determines further investigation is required. She said she has more than 100 cases to work on, and felonies and people in jail require her immediate attention. Asked how child sexual abuse cases are prioritized, she said she could not say, but whether the alleged victim is still under threat is taken into consideration. Lema said she has served as a defense attorney, on the bench, and is now working as a prosecuting attorney. She would not say which other alleged victims or parents had been contacted regarding the allegations against Hill. |
