NORTH OGDEN — A Weber County resident described by police as an educator who is being investigated by Pocatello, Idaho, police over allegations involving a female juvenile is refusing to talk to investigators.
Two Pocatello detectives traveled to Weber County recently and contacted the man, Pocatello Police Lt. Paul Manning said Wednesday in a telephone interview.
“He said on the advice of his attorney that he was not going to speak with us,” Manning said.
The man’s attorney has not contacted Pocatello police, Manning said.
The North Ogden Police Department referred the case to Pocatello police earlier this month.
Police have declined to comment on whether the educator being investigated is Jim Bell, who was fired March 21 from his job as assistant principal of Weber High School.
However, the Weber School District turned over information about Bell to North Ogden police, Nate Taggart, a spokesman for the district, said.
Taggart declined to disclose the nature of the information or the reason for Bell’s firing, because it is a personnel matter.
Attempts to reach Bell have been unsuccessful.
North Ogden police were contacted by a representative of the Weber School District on March 7 and informed of an allegation involving a man and a female juvenile.
North Ogden police have declined to identify the man and juvenile or provide details about the allegations.
Both the girl and the man were North Ogden residents when the alleged offense occurred in Pocatello, according to North Ogden Detective Paul Rhoades.
Pocatello Police Sgt. Ian Nelson has said the case referred from the North Ogden Police Department involves an educator.
No charges have been filed against the individual, whom Manning described as a “person of interest.”
North Ogden police have offered to help Pocatello police interview individuals connected to the case.
The case has been complicated somewhat because it involves two jurisdictions, North Ogden and Pocatello, said Rhoades, adding, “It’s tricky that way.”
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