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Posted: 1:56 PM- As the one-time bishop of the local LDS ward, lots of people in Harrisville know Timothy O'Sean McCleve.
Residents turned to him for guidance and counseling and trusted him. Police say he used that trust to gain access to three sisters he is accused of molesting.
McCleve was charged Monday - his 51st birthday - with three counts of forcible sex abuse. The charges, filed in 2nd District Court in Ogden, carry a possible sentence of life in prison.
And more charges might follow. Harrisville police Chief Max Jackson said detectives there learned during their investigation that Ogden police had opened a case on McCleve.
Jackson said an Ogden investigator has e-mails between McCleve and a girl who was a teenager when McCleve was her bishop suggesting the two had a sexual relationship.
McCleve, who went by "Sean," served as bishop until sometime in 2004, Jackson said. The chief was a member of his congregation.
Jackson said McCleve maintained friendships and positions of trust within Harrisville, including with one family who had girls ages 6, 8 and 12. McCleve knew when the parents were away, Jackson said, and would come over to visit the children.
"He just kind of drops in, and is just friendly with the children," Jackson said.
Only older children were around to supervise, Jackson said, and that's when McCleve molested the three girls.
The abuse began in July 2006, Jackson said. Then earlier this month, the girls were watching a news report about a Riverton teacher who was arrested on suspicion of child molestation.
"The kids were watching the news, and just kind of off the cuff one of the children, a little gal, made a disclosure to her parents," Jackson said.
Two other girls told their parents similarly stories about McCleve abusing them, Jackson said.
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