In a stunning turn of events, the LDS Church proves that, when given the choice between protecting a child molester or protecting his victims, the LDS Church protects the child molester!
This one has to be heard to be believed!
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Thankyou RFM for posting this. I was a TBM for 40 years, until I read about this case last year. It is disgusting that the church and its lawyers are celebrating this victory and claiming they have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Mormon church, you have won this battle, but have lost the war with me, and hopefully many more like me.
So are you saying that the clergy penitent privilege did not prevent (1) the bishop informing the police and (2) the court using the confession – and its fruits – as evidence at a criminal or civil trial?
So both the Church and the Supreme Court got the law wrong?
Not quite. Good question. The Arizona law permits clergy to contact police and communicate what was confessed, but still does not allow the clergy to testify at trial as to what was confessed by the penitent; at least not over the objection of the penitent/defendant. Both can exist at the same time. They are two different things. The one has to do with reporting requirements. The second has to do with testimony at trial.
Is it about ‘did we legally get away with it’ or is it about doing the right thing? Is it about finding legal loopholes to protect abusers or is it about finding a way to end the abuse and protect current and future victims?
My brother (80+) is accused by his granddaughter of sexual abuse of her and her younger sister when they were young pre-teen girls. As far as I know, for at least 15 years, he has never been held legally accountable for his crimes. He has stated that the issue has been “cleared up“ by confessing to local church authorities. Also, as far as I know, these are the only two people he has sexually abused. Recently, after his granddaughter outed him to the rest of our family, he fled to another state to live with my sister. There, he leads an active life in Mormonism, including working in the temple. It appears to me that he has been “protected“ by the LDS church, in a similar way that Adams was protected in your story. My sister allowed him to live with her temporarily. I’m wondering if she was harboring a criminal, or was she being Christ-like (forgiving, non-judgmental and compassionate)? I’m so conflicted about this situation, and I wonder how I can, or if I should ever interact with my brother again. My grand-niece (the abuse victim) has declared that my brother is dead to her, and that she has otherwise moved on with her life. I welcome any opinions.
Do you have a link to the full court decision?
Also, thank you for releasing this! So very important!
I was raised LDS in Layton, Utah. I am 74 years old and I know for a fact that child molestation was a common occurrence. My next door neighbor became a widower left with three daughters. The then Bishop married said woman and proceeded to molest those girls. The woman kicked out the Bishop but he continued to be our Bishop for another two years. This is only one example of what I witnessed during my time in the Mormon church. This was never discussed by anyone in our ward but everyone seemed to know about it.