LOGAN — A 66-year-old Smithfield man and former law enforcement officer has been arrested for allegedly recording a Ukrainian boy in the bathroom. Robert Donald Levan was booked on suspicion of committing four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; along with 15 counts of voyeurism against a child, and one count of stalking, all class A misdemeanors.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Smithfield City Police officers received a report that a 15-year-old boy from Ukraine, staying in the Levan’s home, was being recorded while showering and changing clothes. The complainant explained how the alleged victim had found a phone in a vent that was recording him in the bathroom.
The caller told police, she was with a group that temporarily places refugees in Utah homes, to get them away from their war-torn country. She became aware of the circumstances when the alleged victim called and asked to be picked up from Levan’s residence.
The teenage boy allegedly found the phone and was able to take videos of it recording him, which he provided to police officers, according to arrest paperwork.
Police obtained a warrant for Levan’s phone along with several other electronic devices.
The phone reportedly contained hours of video, showing the alleged victim using the bathroom or shower. Leven could be seen concealing the device in different locations, like a clothes hamper, above the toilet, or the rafters of the home’s unfinished basement.
Investigators noted that there were usually several recordings a day during July. Some of the videos would be three hours long, and others would be between 30 to 45 minutes.
Leven reportedly admitted to police that the phone belonged to him and he was the only one who used it.
Police noted in the probable cause statement, “due to the (Leven’s) prior employment as a Law Enforcement Officer, and the serious nature of the crimes committed, he poses a substantial risk to the community specifically those that are juvenile age.”
Formal charges are pending the completion of police’s investigation.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.