Mormon Church and Sex Abuse and Cover Up

One major thing, besides the absolute horror of unchecked abuse, was the church's official "help line", where calls went to the law offices of the firm representing the church.

The #LDS abuse hotline "was established in 1995 when legal claims of sex abuse against churches were on the rise. Officials of the @Ch_JesusChrist  said in sworn statements that the helpline is staffed by social workers who destroy records of all calls at the close of each day."

From the story: The Associated Press has obtained nearly 12,000 pages of sealed records from an unrelated child sex abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia. The documents offer the most detailed and comprehensive look yet at the so-called help line Herrod called. Families of survivors who filed the lawsuit said they show it’s part of a system that can easily be misused by church leaders to divert abuse accusations away from law enforcement and instead to church attorneys who may bury the problem, leaving victims in harm’s way.

Arizona’s child sex abuse reporting law, and similar laws in more than 20 states that require clergy to report child sex abuse and neglect, says that clergy, physicians, nurses, or anyone caring for a child who “reasonably believes” a child has been abused or neglected has a legal obligation to report the information to police or the state Department of Child Safety. But it also says that clergy who receive information about child neglect or sexual abuse during spiritual confessions “may withhold” that information from authorities if the clergy determine it is “reasonable and necessary” under church doctrine.

Here's a somewhat "prominent" member of the community, Michelle Quist (Salt Lake Tribune Columnist/Editorial Board Member. Attorney Holland & Hart. Opinion and legal writer. Mother of 7. Involved in law/politics for over 20 years.) She posted the following 38 minutes ago. 

The facts:@LDSchurch counsel advised a bishop he COULD NOT report ongoing rape of a 5-yr old. Highest church leadership knows what counsel is advising. He started the ongoing rape of a 6-week old. He filmed it and distributed it. The rape of these children went on for 7 years.

Now this an hour ago from a woman who's running for the legislature.

"#LDS Church law firm trending on Twitter now because of Associated Press story about Church child abuse cover-up. Sadly, I lived this experience with one of my girls. The Church SP leader told me if I went to the police, they would excommunicate me!"

Man, is the stuff hitting the fan on this in Motown? There's a lot of pissed off people. And a LOT of people with personal histories coming out of the woodwork. 

Here's the church's response as reported on the church-owned media giant in town: https://www.ksl.com/article/50453187/church-sex-abuse-case-ap-article-br...

Most folks ain't buying what they're selling. 

Someone posted this on Twitter today. https://twitter.com/LaxDisciple/status/1555740376572448773

A momo explaining that if you go on a mission, it may result in 20 tithing members in the future ($$$!) compared to less than 1 if you don't. I guess they need the cash. One billion dollars is not enough.   

I won't start another thread, but last year at the end of the legislatve session, all the oxygen in the room was sucked up by a bill about girls sports and trans girls. 

What pissed me off, besides those efforts, is that because they got so busy fighting about girls swim teams and the two athletes it may have affected, an assistance program for seniors and others in need (vets, blind, indigent) I was watching didn't get approved by the Senate at an increased funding level which would have helped hundreds maybe thousands of seniors and folks in need. It had passed the House unanimously, but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. Fuckers. More on that some other time. 

But here's what the result of their trans sports bill has wrought. A story from the mo church-owned paper.  https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/8/17/23310668/school-investigates-fema...

After a girl beat their daughters in sports, Utah parents triggered investigation into whether she was transgender

School opened girl’s enrollment records dating back to kindergarten to confirm she was female, Utah High School Activities Association representative tells legislators  

IF YOU MAY BE INTERESTED...

I can show you this link to the bill, or see the figures below. https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/hbillint/HB0401.pdfhttps://le.utah.gov/~...  I was tracking this legislation.

Look how the lower income tier paying folks 9.5% of their rent went from about 11K to 22K in the proposed changes. The 22K range ended up in the 5.5% range in the bottom chart (current), cutting up to 4% off the benefit for a lot of people. For some seniors, that's almost double their $500 benefit. And the top income tier was raised by almost 10K, since you have to report household income and kids are moving in with their folks, sometimes disqualifying them for aid. People with household income between 38K and 48K were eliminated. 

Hundreds of people in need got less aid because the girls sports issue dominated the last days of the session.  FUCKERS! The mormon taliban at the legislature has their priorities! The Republicans currently have super-majorities in both the House and Senate. They control the House by a margin of 59-16 and the Senate by 23-6. 

What the income figures WERE in 2021 (for 2020 income) is in parentheses.
The proposed figures that were in this year’s bill are the ones to the right of that. 

If household income is                                  Percentage of rent allowed as a credit
$0 -- [$11,785]   $22,173                                                    9.5%
[$11,786 -- $15,716] $22,174 --$26,233                             8.5%
[$15,717 -- $19,643] $26,234 --$30,290                             7.0%
[$19,644 -- $23,572] $30,291 --$34,348                             5.5%
[$23,573 -- $27,503] $34,349 --$38,408                             4.0%
[$27,504 -- $31,198] $38,409 --$42,225                             3.0%
[$31,199 -- $34,666] $42,226 --$45,807                           2.5%

But that failed (didn’t make it to the Senate floor for a vote after passing the House unanimously), and the new chart for this year is ………

25 minutes ago...BREAKING NEWS: A judge has just BLOCKED Utah's ban on transgender girls playing school sports matching their gender identity from being enforced: 

https://twitter.com/BenWinslow/status/1560643563129413633

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/judge-grants-injunction-blockin...

Sorry if I went off the rails with too much info about the assistance program. After serving seniors for years and seeing how much it helped, it just really pissed me off that the lege f'ed up so bad. All due to them getting verklempt over the trans issue where TWO girls were the issue. The mormon taliban at the legislature, only they wear garments underneath instead of turbans you can see. 

Mormon Stories Podcast   https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast/video/7132099689675115822?_...

Story about abuse. The dominoes will be falling. 

Local Utah PBS podcast with the reporter who did the story. Seems he brought experience from Boston with him. 

https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2022-08-18/reporter-michael-re...

Both in yesterday's paper. The curtain is getting pulled back. Hope the victims get the help they need. 

P.S. - Most of the local Boy Scout organizations were tied to the mo church. There will be more. 

Utah lawmaker told LDS bishop not to report abuse, docs show. Rep. Merrill F. Nelson took the initial call from a bishop reporting that a church member sexually abused his daughters.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/09/08/utah-rep-told-lds-bishop-not/

A Utah lawmaker and prominent attorney for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints advised a church bishop not to report a confession of child sex abuse to authorities, a decision that allowed the abuse to continue for years, according to records filed in a lawsuit.

The records — two pages from a log of calls fielded by a law firm representing the church and the deposition of a church official — show that Rep. Merrill F. Nelson, R-Grantsville, took the initial call from a bishop reporting that church member Paul Adams had sexually abused his daughters. Nelson also had multiple conversations over a two-year span with two bishops who knew of the abuse, the records show.

Nelson is a conservative lawmaker who was elected to the Utah House in 2013 and announced his retirement earlier this year. He was also a lawyer with the Salt Lake City firm Kirton McConkie, which represents the church. He earned his undergraduate and law degree from church-owned Brigham Young University.

Former Utah mayor, LDS bishop arrested after child sex abuse allegations   Police say the man held a “position of trust” over the three alleged victims.

A one-time Utah mayor and former bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was arrested Wednesday after police say he sexually abused at least three children.

Carl Johnson, 77, was arrested in Orem and booked into the Davis County jail on suspicion of seven counts of aggravated abuse of a child.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/09/08/former-utah-mayor-lds-bishop/

And to add to that, now some are going after one of the more notorious poly groups in Utah, who've been operating in town for years and years with impunity. Somewhat tolerated by law enforcement because after all, it was that nasty federal government (which the mo's HATE) that made them give up polygamy to join the union. No wonder Warren Jeffs got away with his crap for years. 

https://www.fox13now.com/news/fox-13-investigates/lawsuit-claims-polygam...