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I am very sorry to report that Tom Kimball, guide at the Kirtland Temple, and formerly of Signature Books, took his own life yesterday. His family asks for breathing space to plan his funeral. This is devastating news, and from what I can gather there will probably be a lot of mixed feelings about Tom's passing. Evidently, there are accusations of criminal activity of some kind, and there are perhaps multiple victims involved. Please do not ask me about this because I do not know any details. I had limited interaction with Tom. I knew him to be a sometimes gruff, sometimes charming fellow. He definitely had a gift in his ability to express himself through the written word. I will miss him as a familiar face on the Mormon Studies scene, and I know many in the Mormon Studies community, who knew him much better, will miss him even more. To any victims out there, if the allegations are true, I only offer my sadness and regret for what you had to endure and my hope that you will find healing. To his family and friends, I offer my sincerest condolences.

ETA: It has now come out that Tom Kimball abused girls numbering in the double digits. This is uncontested by anyone in possession of the facts. My heart goes out to his victims and family.

My condolences to all who are mourning and especially to all who have been hurt. His adult children have posted publicly, acknowledging that he took his own life to avoid facing the harm he had done. This is tragic all around.

If practicing criminal law for thirty years has taught me anything, it is that there is good in the worst of us and evil in the best.

Rest In Peace, Tom.

I am sincerely sorry to hear this. I didn't know Tom at all, but tragedy happens, and I do hope healing is on the way...

This is terribly sad news. I got to know Tom at Signature and on a road trip through Utah. I was fortunate to only experience goodness.

Lindsay Hanson Park has posted more details on her Facebook page.

https://www.Facebook.com/lindsay.park.7

Simon Southerton wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 15, 2020 5:14 am

This is terribly sad news. I got to know Tom at Signature and on a road trip through Utah. I was fortunate to only experience goodness.

Lindsay Hanson Park has posted more details on her Facebook page.

https://www.Facebook.com/lindsay.park.7

The magnitude of the harm he inflicted on others is difficult to take in. My heart breaks for his victims and his family. Evidently he was terrified of facing the consequences of his actions when his victims started to come forward. The staggering amount of pain that he caused and endured were overwhelming. His victims and family are left to carry that great burden. My heart goes out to them.

I never knew the guy so it isn't hard for me to process this. The guy sounds like so many perps that may do good things in one part of their lives yet commit heinous acts that make so many suffer. It is never acceptable regardless of what he may have done in his public life.

I hope the victims can recover, realizing it is the perp's fault and not theirs. Too many times the victim feels guilt for what the predator does and that is simply not true. Kudos to Lindsey Hansen Park for telling the truth.

Dr Exiled wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:34 pm

I never knew the guy so it isn't hard for me to process this. The guy sounds like so many perps that may do good things in one part of their lives yet commit heinous acts that make so many suffer. It is never acceptable regardless of what he may have done in his public life.

I hope the victims can recover, realizing it is the perp's fault and not theirs. Too many times the victim feels guilt for what the predator does and that is simply not true. Kudos to Lindsey Hansen Park for telling the truth.

I agree on all accounts, Dr Exiled. His acts of abuse were never acceptable. Lindsay did the right thing. I join you in hoping Tom's victims can find healing.

Some days you're just humming along nicely enjoying all around you and then some story like this smacks you in the face bringing you back to the knowledge of how cruel things are.

God and religion seem to make no sense when we know violent and mean psychopaths exist. I don't know if Tom would have fit that billing, but one has to wonder how someone can hurt others going to desperate measures to keep it hidden, only to find relief in the hiding and then turn around to hurt another. I hate taking precautions with people, but some people, men in particular, are ravenous wolves. We need to be better at identifying problems growing in people and helping them onto a better course.

Stem wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:36 pm

Some days you're just humming along nicely enjoying all around you and then some story like this smacks you in the face bringing you back to the knowledge of how cruel things are.

God and religion seem to make no sense when we know violent and mean psychopaths exist. I don't know if Tom would have fit that billing, but one has to wonder how someone can hurt others going to desperate measures to keep it hidden, only to find relief in the hiding and then turn around to hurt another. I hate taking precautions with people, but some people, men in particular, are ravenous wolves. We need to be better at identifying problems growing in people and helping them onto a better course.

There are no winners here for sure. I am deeply saddened by this revelation. I agree with you that we all need to take stock of where we are at and commit ourselves to doing better in listening to victims and finding ways to deter the harm in the first place. It is very complicated for all people involved. These crimes destroy lives, whether they remain hidden or come out into the light. As someone said elsewhere, it is better to tear the bandaid off quickly, but it is also difficult to judge others, especially victims, when they balk at tearing off the bandaid quickly. They understand better than we do the enigmatic combination of power and vulnerability attached to these crimes. A revelation can destroy lives in different ways from secrecy. At the same time, secrecy insures the great multiplication of harm.

My refusal to continue activity in the LDS Church is due in no small part to its very broken way of dealing with sexuality and the more disturbing way that it weaponizes sex as an instrument of control. (I could not in good conscience expose my own children to that system.) That begins with interviewing children about their intimate lives. Sam Young was right. The LDS Church was and continues to be an unsafe environment for children and adults. All Mormons are, to one extent or another, victims of that broken and manipulative system. Tom was a product of it. His victims were a product of it. I am not saying that Tom would only have been an offender as a Mormon. I don't know that. It is, however, a real possibility. We do not know whether he was abused by someone else. He very well could have been. We don't know whether that person was a fellow Latter-day Saint, a priesthood holder, someone who victimized many other children.

It is very possible that Tom is both an offender and a victim in the wider network of broken sexuality, secrecy, and control in Mormonism. He has passed that horrible burden on to his own victims. It remains to be seen how they will deal with the harm done to them. I dearly hope that they find healing. But it will not be easy. These harms can mar lives for generations.