SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 18, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A former Kaysville bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
Timothy James Hallows, 62, had faced a possible sentence of 20 years in prison after accepting the plea deal. On Wednesday morning, he was sentenced to 45 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
Hallows also must register as a sex offender, according to his plea deal documents, provided by the Department of Justice, Utah District.
Hallows’ plea deal required he provide a statement of guilt. His statement says that in 2019, he knowingly possessed explicit images of children believed to be younger than 12.
“These images included depictions of prepubescent children being sexually assaulted by adults,” Hallows’ statement says in part. He also admitted to sending the explicit images to a woman in the Philippines, the DoJ statement says.
Investigators in the case said early on that they found thousands of images of pornography, including some depicting child sexual abuse.
Hallows originally pleaded not guilty in state court to all charges. Officials later decided to move the case to Federal Court.
In Oct. 2019, the LDS Church confirmed the case against Hallows, saying he had been released from his leadership position.
“The allegations against this individual are serious and deeply troubling. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no tolerance for abuse of any kind, including child pornography, and teaches its members and leaders that such behavior is offensive to God and to His Church.
“When local leaders learned of these allegations, this individual was immediately removed from any position that would place him in close contact with youth or children. This is done to ensure the safety of others and to allow this individual to address these serious allegations.”
