SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Josh Powell’s dark secrets were kept under lock and key in a West Valley police evidence room.
And now Washington state authorities are learning that in Powell’s laptop, he allegedly harbored sexually explicit drawings teetering on the edge of child pornography.
Those images were revealed during a child custody hearing in which Powell was ordered to undergo a psyco-sexual evaluation.
Days later, Powell murdered his sons and killed himself.
And while most believe Powell is solely to blame for those deaths some are raising questions in an attempt to prevent it from happening again.
ABC’s 20/20 “Sins of a Father” raises that question. It was one of the issues host anchor Chris Cuomo wonders.
“Why did it take two years to find those images on a computer,” he says in an interview with ABC 4 News. “Utah authorities had it for two years. Why so long?"
The West Valley police department is under a court order that restricts the agency from releasing information from its investigation.
But Salt Lake's district attorney who is also under a court order says they gave Pierce County sheriff’s office everything they needed.
"Once the custody issue became relevant and our conversation with the attorney general's occurred, we shared all relevant information with them and what they wanted, when they needed it, and how to best use it was their decision,” D.A. Sim Gill says.
According to Utah’s child and family services, even if the agency knew about a parent's alleged misconduct it wouldn’t be enough to revoke custody rights.
“Even though the facts are stacking up against somebody until proven guilty we have to work under the guise of their innocence,” says Elizabeth Sollis with D.C.F.S.
One lawmaker has a solution to avoid future problems.
Rep. Paul Ray plans to sponsor a resolution to review current policies.
He says the goal would be to enact a Charlie-Braden law that restricts a spouse’s rights when under investigation for a spouse's death.
“I don't know if you want to say no visitation but I think you can make it harder to gain custody,” says Rep. Ray. “You could hold a hearing, like a grand jury when these allegations surface. But I think we need to look at the whole policy.”
