LOGAN — The case against a 40-year-old Smithfield man accused of allegedly molesting several children is being put on hold while officials determine whether or not he is competent to stand trial. Joshua Coti Lippold has been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested in September after telling the alleged victims he owned their souls.
Lippold appeared Monday in 1st District Court for a status hearing. He has been charged with five counts of rape of a child, five counts of sodomy on a child, and 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies
According to an arrest report, Smithfield City Police officers received a child abuse report from the Division of Child and Family Services in September. The report detailed how a 12-year-old girl had disclosed to her mother that she had been molested by Lippold, a family relative.
A forensic interview was later conducted at a Children’s Justice Center. During the interview, the alleged victim described how Lippold had been molesting her over the last four years at his Smithfield home. The suspect told her not to tell anyone, the arrest report detailed.
The girl told law enforcement how Lippold started touching her inappropriately after making her sign her name in an “old fashioned book that was mahogany in color.” The suspect allegedly told the girl he then possessed her soul.
Police officers later obtained a search warrant for Lippold’s home. Inside they found a large marijuana grow, which resulted in members of the Cache Rich Drug Task Force being called to assist. Police also found a dark red colored book, titled Da Vinci’s Demons that the alleged victim said she had signed.
While executing the search warrant, law enforcement interviewed several other children. A 12-year-old girl disclosed that she also had been sexually assaulted numerous times over the last two years. Lippold had told the child that he’d lose his job if she told anyone, the report explained.
Another child talked about the book Lippold had. He believed that people who signed it gave the suspect their souls.
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Spencer Walsh granted defense attorney Cameron Cox’s competency motion. He ordered the suspect to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, to determine whether he is capable to defend himself.
Lippold was ordered to appear again in court for a competency review hearing March 13. He is being held without bail and could face up to life in prison, if convicted.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
will@cvradio.com