After hearing of the DA's decision Wednesday, Larabee said she was happy to see the legal system was running its course.

"From the inception of this incident, we have just wanted law enforcement and the judicial system to take its course and to ferret out the facts of the case," she said. "We're happy that it's proceeding. We're still very concerned about David and his family, as well as the other folks involved in this. This is a very difficult thing."

Prior to the DA's decision to decline charges Wednesday, the mother of the children allegedly kidnapped told the Deseret News she doesn't deny people in her house were responsible for beating the two men but said they were only trying to protect the children. She said she knew Bell was gay but said his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the attack.

"This is not a hate crime," she said.

If the couple who took their children were a man and a woman, the mother said she would have reacted the same way.

The mother even noted she "kind of feels bad" about the extent of Fair's injuries and that he simply "got caught in the crossfire."

"We regret beating them up as badly as we did," she said. "But we don't feel bad because what if it (had turned into) another case of murdered children?"

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Contributing: Aaron Falk

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E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com