pistolero wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 1:52 am
pistolero wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2025 11:45 pm
I still feel that we are missing some key details in this case. If it was the same child that was abused in 2014 and in 2019 in Spain, and that this victim is the nephew/niece of the perpetrator, then surely you have to ask serious questions of everyone else involved? e.g. The perpetrator's brother and MP Phil. Something is not right there.
I've managed to read some of the current and historical court documents now, and it seems the family member involved in 2014 and 2019 is not the same person, which makes much more sense - somewhere the reporting has implied this. For the expungement, I notice that the perpetrator has no supporting letters from siblings, only from parents and grand parents.
The perpetrator's background is more complex than I had realised.
The Perpetrator is Phillip and Cathy's youngest child, Paydan. He was first convicted of molesting a child at a swim meet
in 2012. Phil and Kathy's oldest son, Brandon, alleges that this information was kept under such a veil of secrecy that not even he and his wife were entrusted with it.
The 2014 incident against Brandon's infant son occurred in Philip and Cathy's home. While babysitting their grandson, he was left unattended with Paydan. Whatever happened at this time was left under-explained and went unreported to the authorities.
***
Case 2:25-cv-00197 Document 1 Filed 01/30/25
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
H.B. by and through his guardian ad litem
BRANDON BUSSEY, Plaintiff
VS.
THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY
SAINTS, PAYDAN BUSSEY, THAYNE
LYMAN, PHILLIP BUSSEY, CATHY
BUSSEY, and DOES 1-100, INCLUSIVE,
Defendants.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
(Common to All Causes of Action)
32. Defendant Paydan Bussey (“BUSSEY” or “PERPETRATOR”) had a history of sexual abuse before abusing H.B. (“H.B.” or “PLAINTIFF”).
33. In 2010, Phillip Bussey (“PHILLIP”) was called to be a part of the Area Seventy. Prior to 2010, PHILLIP had been serving as President of the Bellevue Washington Stake. Prior to that, PHILLIP had been a Bishop in the Duthie Hill Ward and Stake Mission President.
34. In 2012, while living in the Seattle area of Washington, BUSSEY was investigated by police for allegations of sexual abuse relating to an incident at a swim meet. He was later charged and convicted. As a result of his conviction BUSSEY was required to go to therapy, put on probation, and required to register as a sex offender.
35. In late 2014, when living in Washington, BUSSEY molested, then infant, H.B.
36. In late 2014, or early 2015, Cathy Bussey (“CATHY”) and PHILLIP, informed H.B.’s father that BUSSEY had inappropriately touched H.B. but did not provide more information and indicated that it was a one-time mistake BUSSEY made while going through a phase of confusion.
37. During the period when BUSSEY first abused H.B., as an infant, the abuse took place in PHILLIP and CATHY’s home in Bothell, Washington. During this time, H.B. was left in PHILLIP and CATHY’s care, PHILLIP and CATHY then left H.B. unsupervised with BUSSEY in their home, despite knowing of his history of sexually abusing minors.
38. While still on probation in Washington, CATHY and PHILLIP sent BUSSEY to a residential treatment program in Utah, that was staffed by members of the L.D.S. CHURCH. BUSSEY also began attending school in Utah. As a result of his moving to attend school while still under the registration requirement for his Washington conviction, BUSSEY was also required to register as a sex offender in Utah.
39. In January 2015, while he was still a registered sex offender in both Washington and Utah, BUSSEY met with Bishop Thayne Lyman (“LYMAN”) to become ordained into the priesthood. In order to become ordained, BUSSEY would have had to confess his history of sexually abusing minors to LYMAN.
40. During this time, when BUSSEY was on probation, PHILLIP was a member of the Seventy in L.D.S. CHURCH. The Seventy are the layer between the local L.D.S. CHURCH administration and the general L.D.S. CHURCH administration. CATHY and PHILLIP had been in communication with senior leadership in L.D.S. CHURCH members in the first or second quorum of the Seventy. CATHY and PHILLIP consulted with these leaders in the
L.D.S. CHURCH about BUSSEY’s conduct, as well as his criminal case and how to proceed. In fact, BUSSEY’s criminal conviction, probation, and registration requirements were active barriers to PHILLIP pursuing his calling of Mission President in Spain. PHILLIP was not able to go to Madrid to fulfill his calling as Mission President until BUSSEY’s criminal case and his requirements were all resolved.
41. After the two years of BUSSEY’s registration requirement had passed, and per Washington’s legislation for minor offenders, BUSSEY was eligible for his registration requirement to be removed and for his case to be sealed. PHILLIP and CATHY hired an attorney who helped petition to get BUSSEY removed from the Washington sex offender registry list, and to get his case sealed. Once they had succeeded in doing so in late 2017, PHILLIP and CATHY then worked tirelessly to get BUSSEY removed from the Utah sex offender registry and were successfully able to get him removed shortly after.
42. Upon information and belief, L.D.S. CHURCH failed to investigate or excommunicate BUSSEY in relation to the allegations of sexual abuse brought to them by CATHY and PHILLIP and the criminal charges against him for abusing PLAINTIFF, and his other victims.
43. L.D.S. CHURCH was on notice of BUSSEY’s previous predatory behavior and still allowed BUSSEY to play with, and be around, other children unsupervised. BUSSEY also continued to reside with CATHY and PHILLIP in their home, where they continued to open their home to members of the L.D.S. CHURCH, including young children who were coming to receive blessings from PHILLIP in his leadership role in the L.D.S. CHURCH.
44. In early 2018, PHILLIP was called to be a Mission President, along with this wife CATHY, in Madrid. Prior to being called into this role, CATHY had been a ward Relief Society President.
45. When in Madrid, PHILLIP and CATHY were staying at a home that was owned by the L.D.S. CHURCH, which was a mission home where PHILLIP and CATHY were residing as a part of their leadership roles within the L.D.S. CHURCH. Missionaries were often in and out of the home, and PHILLIP and CATHY used the property as a way to further the goal and mission of the L.D.S. CHURCH.
46. In December, 2019, PHILLIP and CATHY invited H.B., his family, and BUSSEY, to visit their home in Madrid, to see their Mission work, and spend Christmas and New Years with them. All the tickets were purchased and paid for by the L.D.S. CHURCH.
47. While in Madrid, BUSSEY began grooming H.B., for further sexual abuse, and sexually abusing him. BUSSEY began to touch H.B. inappropriately, fondling him over his clothes.
48. After the sexual abuse took place in Madrid, BUSSEY began texting H.B., individually, teaching him how to delete his text messages, so that H.B.’s parents did not learn of the grooming behavior and abuse.
49. In 2020, while BUSSEY was attending school in Utah, he would often come and visit H.B. and his family at their home in Utah. PERPETRATOR would come stay for the weekend, PHILLIP and CATHY sometimes coordinated these stays, despite their knowledge of his history of sexually abusing young children, including PLAINTIFF.
50. When he came to visit, PERPETRATOR would often get gifts and trinkets for both H.B. and his sister. In order to throw off suspicion of his gifts to PLAINTIFF, BUSSEY would also purchase sheets and blankets for the purpose of creating blanket forts to play with H.B. All of these items were paid for by PHILLIP and CATHY via the L.D.S. CHURCH, as BUSSEY did not have a steady source of income.
51. During his visits from early 2020 through summer of 2020, BUSSEY would sexually abuse H.B. The sexual abuse escalated from fondling over the clothes, to fondling H.B. when he was naked, and making H.B. fondle him when he was naked. The sexual abuse continued to escalate, until BUSSEY began to coerce H.B. into orally copulating him and performing oral copulation on PLAINTIFF.
52. The oral copulation often times took place in the blanket forts that BUSSEY would make with PLAINTIFF, using sheets and items he had purchased for the purpose of creating the forts.
***
In 2020, Mission President Bussey and his wife took a vacation from their mission in Spain so that Phil could receive an award.
This very short article recounts President Bussey's achievements in the business world and closes with these inspiring remarks:
Small Town Boy Phil Bussey Becomes PR Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
December 05, 2020 12:00 AM
From his years spent working with professionals in large companies, Bussey believes one of the most important aspects of working professionally in PR is integrity.
“Of all the gifts that you have, it is so important to maintain your integrity. Having integrity opened so many doors and created so many successes because people knew we were true to our word,” said Bussey. “Being honest is so incredibly important. You’re not always going to be working, and you want to know that you’re good with yourself and what you’ve done.”
https://comms.BYU.edu/small-town-boy-ph ... rd-winner/
***
Now, back to the court filing:
53. In May 2023, PERPETRATOR sexually abused H.B. when he was 8 years old. While staying at H.B.’s home, BUSSEY required H.B. to perform oral copulation on him before BUSSEY then performed oral copulation on H.B. BUSSEY took photos of these interactions and told H.B. that he was going to send them to a friend. During one of these instances BUSSEY had restrained and pinned down H.B. while they were in a blanket fort. As a result of this sexual abuse, BUSSEY is facing criminal charges in Utah: three counts of sodomy on a child, one count of kidnapping of a child, and sexual abuse of a child.
54. L.D.S. CHURCH hid BUSSEY’s predatory behavior and history, in order to seek favor with his family. At the time BUSSEY was first charged with child sexual abuse, PHILLIP was a member of the Seventy, which holds a high level of authority within the L.D.S. CHURCH. When PERPETRATOR sexually abused PLAINTIFF in summer of 2023, PHILLIP had been elevated to the position of Stake Patriarch within L.D.S. CHURCH.
55. The repeated incidents of sexual abuse and continued exposure to his abuser caused PLAINTIFF pain and suffering, both physically as a result of the assaults and molestation, as well as psychologically.
56. PLAINTIFF is informed and believes and thereupon alleges, that, at all times herein mentioned, Defendants knew or should have known that PERPETRATOR was abusing minor PLAINTIFF, and that Defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect him.
There's a lot more in this court filing but this is all I have time for today.
