Former LDS Church worker pleads guilty to child sex abuse

A former LDS Church employee has pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing two children.

Timothy William Bothell, 43, was charged in 2nd District Court in August with two counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child stemming from incidents at a home between Dec. 1, 2011, and Aug. 9. He was also charged with four counts of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor.

On Tuesday, Bothell accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to attempted aggravated sexual abuse, a first-degree felony, and lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor. All the other charges were dismissed.

Sometime in the last year, Bothell allegedly touched the genitals of a minor female, and made the child touch his genitals also, according to court documents. During the same time, Bothell "intentionally or knowingly" exposed his genitals to the same female child and another female child on at least four separate occasions, court documents state.

After being interviewed by police, Bothell admitted to touching the genitals of the female child and causing her to touch his penis. He told officers he "accidentally" exposed himself to the same two female children at least eight different times, according to court records.

Bothell was not employed by the church in August when criminal charges were filed against him, according to LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter.

Bothell had worked for the church in the Missionary Department at the church office building since 2004, and previously worked as a faculty development coordinator for the Assessment of Student Learning at Brigham Young University, according to his LinkedIn online account. Bothell also has a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in psychology from BYU.

Bothell is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller