A Utah FBI employee has been arrested and charged with felony sex crimes involving minors.
Robert Alexander Smith was arrested on Aug. 24. The 65-year-old man faces four felony charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, four misdemeanor charges of lewdness involving a child and two misdemeanor counts of lewdness, KSTU reported.
Authorities began investigating Smith after learning of an account of abuse a young girl communicated to her own mother.
After learning of the minor girl’s account, the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office interviewed other minors who alleged Smith touched them inappropriately, according to KTVX.
The first victim to describe the alleged abuse recounts Smith sexually assaulting her inside his home in 2020.
When the girl’s mother questioned her other daughters about what their sibling had told her, the girls became emotional and started crying.
A statement of probable cause in the case alleges Smith is responsible for sexually abusing five children.
The FBI employee reportedly declined to speak to law enforcement regarding the allegations when he was arrested at his home.
In a statement provided to KSL-TV, the FBI confirmed the suspect is an employee of the agency.
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“We are aware of the arrest of an FBI employee. The FBI takes allegations of misconduct very seriously. As such, the incident has been referred to the FBI’s Internal Affairs Section. We cannot comment further on an ongoing personnel matter.”
Court documents cited by KSL describe Smith as holding a position of authority over the minors he allegedly abused.
“Mr. Smith occupied a position of special trust as it pertains to the victims in this case,” the state claimed.
Smith was arrested at his Stansbury Park, Utah, home on Aug. 24 and booked into the Tooele County Jail.
He’s being held in custody without bail, according to KSTU.
Smith’s role at the FBI and his job duties aren’t clear.
Aggravated sexual abuse of a child is considered a “grievous sexual offense” under Utah law, according to Utah law firm Brown, Bradshaw & Moffat.
Utah law directs judges to sentence those convicted of this offense to 15 years to life, but the court can reduce this sentence.
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