7 years sex abuse of a child covered up by LDS leaders

[Dr Exiled]

The church needs to take a look in the mirror and do some real repentance. This seems to be endemic. 20 years ago, Utah County was a hotbed of child pornography according to certain law enforcement and lawyers I knew real well at the time. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a bigger problem today. When I was young, the old Deseret Gym was a place where parents dropped off their kids and let them run around unsupervised. The pedos were obviously attracted to the place like any predator would be. The church knew what was going on then and covered it up. There was abuse in my stake and the SP covered it up. A bishop in a neighboring ward was alleged to have raped several of his daughters for years and GAs in the ward covered it up. It is a problem and nothing is being done to stop it so it seems. One would think that a church that worships money so much wouldn't want to continually pay out large sums to victims. Even if cover-up is the name of the game with its attendant NDAs, fix the freaking problem already. Is it going on among some of the Apostles? Is this why it is a generational problem that cannot be remedied?

[Marcus]

it makes me think that this is the 'rainy day' that the LDS leaders who are hoarding hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars were referring to.

[Dr Moore]

The church needs to take a look in the mirror and do some real repentance.
...

Even if cover-up is the name of the game with its attendant NDAs, fix the freaking problem already.

Yes and yes. I cannot fathom why this wasn't remedied, at its very root, two or three generations ago. If ever there were a need for a "voice of warning" in our time, it would be to prevent the predictable epidemic problem inherent in giving men positions of power, an institutionalized sense of ecclesiastical immunity from prosecution, and TIME ALONE with minors.

How many victims of abuse have said nothing because they know, deep down, that they will be silenced or shamed or both?

[Dr Moore]

This alone causes me such anxiety for all those family and friends unwittingly or for the sake of God supporting the Church....I think i'm going to be yelling the f-word at everyone I see today.

Sorry and completely understand. It is a massively triggering issue for me also, because this happened to my cousin, she settled, and then she served a mission and spent over 2 decades trying to make it work until finally the shame led her to seek deep counseling and ultimately, to resign from the church. She is happy and at peace now, but damn if that wasn't all avoidable if the church was just, well, better than it is.

[sock puppet]

Just two years ago, numerous TBMs that I know were plastering Facebook with posts expressing the strongest condemnation and disgust about sex trafficking, insinuating (with no evidence--probably just repeating what Alex Jones was screeching about) participating in sex trafficking of minors by the Clintons, Joe Biden and other "liberal Democrats." Now that there are specific facts implicating their own, beloved church and its leaders, there's an overwhelming, deafening silence. For those TBMs, it is now clear concern for children was not their motivation, but simply an effort to smear those with whom they have political differences.

[Gabriel]

My family moved up to Kent Washington just before my senior year during those heady days when the Church was true, Mormons were fun-loving and respectable, and all was well in Zion. A friend of mine from one of the other wards came to live with us a few months before receiving our mission calls (he to South Chicago where he had a miserable experience, I to the now-defunct Sendai mission during the infamous Tokyo South Groberg-Kikuchi "Hasty Baptism" Era where I, too, had a miserable experience, to be shortly followed by my sister who had the privilege of going to the Philippines for her miserable mission experience -- but I digress).

Anyway, one night shortly before we took out our Endowments at the Seattle Temple, my friend started crying and spilled his guts, saying that he had been molested by an LDS scoutmaster some years earlier. He, my friend, wasn't a member at the time when he was with the scouts -- he converted a few years later -- but he said that it still haunted him occasionally and he said something to the effect that he felt filthy because of it. To my everlasting discredit, I honestly didn't know what to make of this and I just assumed that the situation had been somehow been resolved and that the Church had taken care of it. I didn't press my friend for further details. I was wrong.

It turned out that other Mormon boys received the same treatment as my friend which, besides being molested sexually, included posing in the nude for photographs at the Perp's house, as well as submitting to having plaster casts made of their penises. At least, two local bishops were notified by the parents. The end result, however, was that nothing was done. The perp became a scoutmaster in a different ward; and if I remember correctly, continued on with his activities in Idaho.

When I returned home from Japan, no sooner had I time to decompress when I was immediately called to the now-defunct 70's quorum in my home ward. Because the other 70's all had jobs, families, and lives, it was decided that I would be the one to go on splits with the missionaries for tracting and discussions. This just happened to be the time when The Godmakers had just come out (a movie which I still haven't seen and have no interest in seeing). I am not sure which denomination it was but the local yokels there got it into their heads that they would all pose as investigators of the church, feign interest for a lesson or two, and then start hammering the missionaries with all the issues that were brought up in the movie, all in the name of evangelization. naïve though I was, I soon learned that this could only result in fruitless Bible-bashing, and the whole thing left an incredibly sour taste in my mouth. I reported what was going on to my 70's Quorum. They were all generous with advice, offering suggestions as to how I should punch and counterpunch, but their help did not include going with me to these nauseating events (because they all had jobs, families, and lives). To truncate this story -- which I only include only to simulate the passage of time -- I had a miserable day sitting in the foyer of the stake center watching the dust floating around in the light of the dreary afternoon sun, when I had the strange sensation that if I keep doing what I'm doing then it will be meetings, meetings, meetings with nothing but talk, talk, talk for the rest of my life. It was close to a sensation of nihilism (for lack of a better word). I decided then to award myself what the church never had and never would give me: solitude. I had to get the hell out of Dodge. I eventually joined the army as a Farsi linguist and lost contact with my friend.

It was not until a few years ago that I decided to look him up online.

It turns out that he ended up suing the Church.

I don't know how it finally ended up. I believe that it was eventually settled out of court.

I'll post a link here to what (I believe) is a brief summary of the case. I don't read legaleze but if I understand correctly, the Church lawyers fought this case tooth and nail to exploit every possible loophole.

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5 ... 49347728e6

Although, the Church lawyers admitted that the Perp was a member, had a "special relationship" with the church, had done the deeds of which he was accused. and that Bishops had been notified with nothing being done, they argued first that the statute of limitations had run out. They then argued that the plaintiff (my friend) was not a member of the church at the time of the occurrence and therefore had no "special relationship" with the Church(?) They then argued that the church should be exempt from liability because the molestation didn't occur on church property.

I don't think that I have ever written anything that fills me with as much disgust as the foregoing.

[Kishkumen]

Yep, yep, yep.

There is something royally screwed up in the LDS Church to allow this to happen. I think it is structural. It is loyalty to the organization above all else. That is what leads to these perverse outcomes. Anyone who sues the LDS Church is "in it for the money" and not a "real" victim according to their twisted view. They feel it to be absolutely imperative to protect the LDS Church's bottom line and reputation over the children with whom they are entrusted.

And that is a non-starter for me. Nope, nope, and nope.

I will never, ever support an organization with those kinds of twisted priorities.

It would be one thing if we could be confident that they were taking every precaution to protect the kids. But they obviously are not. They never have done so. Now that the problem is well known, all they do is make minor adjustments that are wholly inadequate to address the fundamental problems.

So, I am fully in favor of those who hold the Church's feet to the fire in this regard. Until the LDS Church makes major changes in the way it works with kids, LDS kids will continue to be vulnerable, far too vulnerable, to predators, and that is completely unacceptable.

[Philo Sofee]

This thread has forced me to sport a frowny face the rest of today. Its' not that I haven't heard this sh|t before, but the reminder hits me.

I'm pissed imagining these church leaders think they have the best course of action and the result is the worst. One story like this should melt them to their knees and fix their absolutely stupid defensive pose. I'm feeling so mad I don't even want to think about all the other stupid things about the Church. This alone causes me such anxiety for all those family and friends unwittingly or for the sake of God supporting the Church....I think i'm going to be yelling the f-word at everyone I see today.

I'm right there with you. This is beyond disgusting. I wonder if Lou Midgley or Dan Peterson will rise to the occasion and excuse these religious ASSHOLES for their SINS OF OMISSION which harms families FOREVER. Peterson says the church is true and all criticisms are somehow off. THEN SPEAK UP PETERSON. SHOW US your ill justification for this heinous issue the CHURCH LEADERSHIP is COVERING and at FAULT, and PAYING HUSH MONEY for. Come on you piece of SH*T. Defend your leadership pieces of SH*T on this issue. I dare you.

[Philo Sofee]

Dr. Exiled
The church needs to take a look in the mirror and do some real repentance.

Not near good enough or far enough. The church needs to be DESTROYED. Where the hell is Jesus when you need him?

[Dr Moore]

Gabriel, such a terrible story. Thanks for sharing.

I hate seeing the church dig in with a sort of "might makes right" legalistic defense -- they're on a money grab, we followed the letter of the law, our attorney-client and clergy-member privilege must be protected, blah blah blah. What is this, Better Call Saul? The church has utterly failed to lead on abuse protection and prevention. Of all the social issues to fumble, this too?

Of course, every case has the potential to be scandalous. But church leaders are learning by sad experience, the cover-up is way more scandalous. And so incredibly tragic. Ultimately, far more expensive in money, brand and trust. I guess, why go for trust when you've got $100 billion banked and can win with the power of brute force? Seems stupid. The world doesn't work that way anymore.

I read online today that today, some 20 years after the story broke in the Boston Globe, 4% of all Catholic priests have been accused of abuse. What a sickening statistic. That story broke 20 years ago, and to this day the LDS church is still fumbling around with practices designed to protect its image and its investments, first and foremost.

Doing the right thing sometimes requires great courage. It is an irredeemable shame the church's policies and practices were not courageous.