Support Goel's Fight for Justice in Utah

Jamin Darcy, otherwise known as Goel, has been writing about the allegations and David Lee Hamblin and his alleged accomplices since 2022 on his Substack Investigations in Ritual Abuse. In 2024, two of the alleged accomplices, Joe and Lee Bennion of Spring City, Utah filed a civil stalking injunction against him for writing about those allegations. Goel has never had a single interaction with either of the two individuals in question: he hasn't followed them, he hasn't met them, and he hasn't conversed with them over the phone or via text. How do you stalk someone you've never met?

The Bennions attempted to conduct discovery into Goel's confidential sources, many of whom were victims, but the court found that he was a journalist shielded by privilege in this area. While Joe and Lee Bennion conducted a deposition against one of Goel's Substack subscribers, Ken Krogue, they skipped their depositions despite being notified over two weeks in advance. These depositions cost nearly $5,000 to schedule. The court did not sanction the Bennions or order them to reimburse Goel for the costs of the deposition, and the Bennions ignored his discovery filing altogether, even though he filed his response within the 28 day limit.

Throughout these proceedings, the court has had one set of rules for the Bennions and another set of rules for Goel.

The corrupt court in Manti's Sixth District granted a permanent stalking injunction, which these two individuals then utilized to argue that writing about allegations of child rape and murder against them by three of their alleged victims constituted a violation of the stalking injunction.

For the majority of these legal proceedings, Goel has represented himself pro se. He appealed the district court's decision to grant the stalking injunction, but the appellate court continually insisted that they had not received his filings.

The Bennions have since raised over $50,000 and counting to fund lawfare against others, including their neighbors in Spring City who believe the allegations against them, and podcast hosts Jason and Alexia Preston of We Are the People Utah. They are suing others for defamation, but they have not sued Goel for defamation or their accusers and victims, Rachel, Eliza, and Katherine Hamblin. Instead, the Bennions and their supporters seek to use the legal process to financially punish and harass anyone who would examine the allegations against them through journalism.

To that end, Joe and Lee Bennion are seeking to jail Goel for a day for each of the 61 articles he has published detailing the allegations against them and the evidence in support of those allegations. They are also seeking to fine him $500 per each article, or $30,500, while also seeking an award of attorney's fees and court costs of $13,000.

In short, the Bennions are seeking to criminalize journalism and opinion, both of which are protected by the First Amendment. They're doing so in a corrupt Utah court system that routinely shortchanges victims. Utah ranks first in child sex abuse nationally, eighth in rape, and second in sex offenses overall.

Despite this, Utah has a mere 2.97% conviction rate for rape. Its judges are either lenient or involved in the abuse. For example, Fourth District Judge Thomas Low referred to a convicted rapist, Keith Robert Vallejo as "an extraordinarily good man" during a sentencing hearing while Vallejo's victim was in the courtroom. Judge Don Torgensen gave Aidan Hoffman time served-112 days-for possessing child pornography, saying “112 days is a lot of jail time. It’s a lot of jail time for someone your age who comes from some level of privilege.”

Judge Kevin Robert Christensen, who was allegedly caught exchanging child pornography with his lover, Tremonton fire chief Ned Brady Hansen, granted bail to Hansen before authorities arrested him despite the fact that prosecutors requested that bail be denied. Christensen did not disclose his relationship with Hansen, and he was later arrested for exchanging child pornography with Hansen after the FBI and local law enforcement exposed his criminal conduct on the app Kik. The charging documents make it clear that Christensen was talking online with multiple teenage girls, and Hansen's acts speak volumes: "In another chat, the defendant (Hansen) states that he 'totally would' molest a child 'if (he) could get away with it.'"

Two of Ned Brady Hansen's family members have since sued him for sexual abuse.

It is clear that Utah has a problem with sexual abuse, but time and time again, those journalists and activists who attempt to expose this problem are punished with greater severity than the actual perpetrators who rape and exploit children. Despite the fact that David Lee Hamblin was recorded apologizing to his daughter for raping her in 2013, he has never been convicted. In two criminal trials, the prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges against Hamblin, whose former neighbors were Joe and Lee Bennion.

Hamblin's daughters explicitly allege that both Joe and Lee Bennion raped and abused them and others. It is clear that the Manti Sixth District has no interest in fairness, due process, or equal protection for Goel or anyone else who seeks to expose the scourge of child sexual abuse and hold perpetrators accountable. As a result, Goel can no longer expect to effectively fight these charges pro se.

That's where you come in: your contributions will help Goel hire legal counsel to represent him and undo the injustices inflicted by the courts. This GoFundMe is aimed at providing Goel with the money to hire legal counsel to fight the lawfare of Joe and Lee Bennion. It is aimed at enabling Goel to defend his First Amendment rights to cover credible criminal allegations against those who rape and torture children in the state of Utah.

Others, including Jason and Alexia Preston, have already incurred legal expenses in the tens of thousands of dollars fighting off the lawfare waged by Joe and Lee Bennion and a corrupt legal system that seeks to punish journalism and activism against child sexual abuse and exploitation. Utah is corrupt, but we can and should change that. Your donation is a step towards defending journalism, activism, and defeating lawfare against those who utilize the legal system to punish anyone who would expose their criminal conduct.