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Case videos
Add info | Back to top- Video title: How Mormon church 'help line' hid child sex abuse
- Video description: "One victim was 5 when her father told his bishop that he was sexually abusing her. The abuse went on for seven more years even though Mormon church leaders used a so-called help line to report her abuse." - Associated Press
Case summary
Add info | Back to topPaul Adams was excommunicated from the Mormon church in 2013. He killed himself while awaiting trial, so he was never found guilty in court.
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from https://www.sltrib.com/religion/local/2022/08/04/seven-years-sex-abuse-how-latter/
“MJ was a tiny, black-haired girl, just 5 years old, when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her.
“The father, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an admitted pornography addict, was in counseling with his bishop when he revealed the abuse. The bishop, who was also a family physician, followed church policy and called what church officials have dubbed the “help line” for guidance.
“But the call offered little help for MJ. Lawyers for the church, widely known as the Mormon church, who staff the help line around the clock told Bishop John Herrod not to call police or child welfare officials. Instead he kept the abuse secret.”
from AP:
https://apnews.com/article/video-victimizes-child-long-after-abuser-is-gone-a749889073eccc7e0d9d5e6c6af38b92
“Six years before the video surfaced in Auckland, Adams, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, confessed to his bishop that he abused his daughter, identified by the AP as MJ.
“But a prominent church lawyer told the bishop to keep the abuse secret. And as a result, MJ was brutalized for seven more years. Today, she continues to be victimized almost daily in a different way, as the video, and others Adams took, circulate on the internet. Details of the Mormon officials’ cover-up of the Adams rapes were reported in an AP investigation in August.
[…]
“Lynne Cadigan, one of several attorneys representing three of the Adams children, said MJ will seek compensation from the child pornographers.
“But she and Salminen, the girl’s adoptive mother, lay most of the blame for the sexual abuse on officials of the Mormon church, who knew Adams molested MJ as early as 2010 and did nothing to stop it.
[…]
“Attorneys for the church say the bishops who knew that Adams abused his daughter — John Herrod and Robert “Kim” Mauzy — did nothing wrong by taking a lawyer’s advice and withholding the information because Adams told Herrod about the abuse during a spiritual confession, triggering the privilege.
“In a statement to the AP, the church said it had no knowledge Adams was recording himself abusing his two daughters and posting the material on the internet until 2017. “The Church had no idea that these videos were being created or circulated until after Paul Adams was arrested,” the statement read. “The church supports all efforts to prosecute anyone who possesses or distributes these heinous and disturbing videos.””
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Adams’s wife alleged that he had had sex with his own biological mother in approximately 2013.
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Sources
- FLOODLIT profile of Leizza Alcantara Adams, who was Paul Adams's wife (archive) - -
- Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen - AP (archive) - -
- Utah lawmaker told Mormon bishop not to report child sex abuse - Marketwatch (archive) - -
- Sex-abuse video victimizes child long after abuser is gone - AP (archive) - -
- 7 years of sex abuse: How Mormon leaders learned Arizona man was abusing his kids and let it continue - AZCentral (archive) - -
- Bisbee church at center of sexual abuse claim - KVOA (archive) - -
- Judge Recuses Self From Lawsuit Against LDS Church, Failed To Disclose Membership - Arizona Daily Independent (archive) - -
- What Happened To Paul Douglas and Leizza Adams? Mormon Leaders Story - Celebseek (archive) - -
- Video: Sex abuse video spreads after Mormon church inaction - CBS News (5m 39s) (archive) - -
- 4 takeaways from AP’s Mormon church sex abuse investigation - Denver Post (archive) - -
- How Mormon church 'help line' hid child sex abuse - AP (archive) - -
- 2018-08-13 - Presentence Hearing and Sentencing - Bisbee, Arizona - CR-201700425 - 247-page PDF (archive) - -
- TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS MITIGATION HEARING and SENTENCING - PART ONE - 117-page PDF (archive) - -
- Failure to Report Sexual Abuse—Bisbee, Arizona - Mormonr - accessed 2023-01-06 (archive) - -
Timeline of case events
Add info | Back to top- Date: 1 Oct 2010
- Description:
approximately late 2010 or early 2011 - Paul Adams confesses to his local Mormon bishop, John Herrod, that he is sexually abusing his oldest daughter.
- Country: United States
- State: Arizona
- City: Bisbee
- Date: 8 Feb 2017
- Description:
Paul Douglas Adams is arrested.
- Country: United States
- State: Arizona
- City: unknown
- Date: 9 Dec 2022
- Description:
Paul Adams dies by suicide while in custody awaiting trial.
- Country: unknown
- State: unknown
- City:
- Date: 12 Jun 2020
- Description:
Interview of former LDS bishop John Herrod (Paul Adams's bishop to whom he confessed that he was sexually abusing his daughter) by Agent Edwards
- Country: United States
- State: Arizona
- City: unknown
- Date: 17 Jun 2021
- Description:
Leizza Adams, former wife of Paul Douglas Adams, gave a deposition in a lawsuit filed against the Mormon church.
She said the church knew for years that Paul was sexually abusing their oldest daughter.
- Country: United States
- State: Arizona
- City: unknown
Location/residence history
Add info | Back to top- Date: 2017
- Description: Died by suicide in detention in Arizona
- Country: United States
- State: AZ
- City: Florence
- Lat/long:
LDS/Mormon church membership history
Add info | Back to topLDS mission information
The accused did not serve a full-time LDS mission.
LDS temple marriage information
FLOODLIT is not aware whether the accused was married in a Mormon temple.
Alleged crime(s)
Add info | Back to topAlleged crime information
- Description of alleged crime(s): sexual abuse of a child
- Start date: 2010
- End date: 2017
- City: Bisbee
- State: AZ
- Country: United States
Alleged victim(s)
Add info | Back to top- Number of alleged victim(s) - note if approximate: 2
- Average age of alleged victim(s) at time of alleged crime(s): 5
Alleged victim information
- Gender of alleged victim: female
- Notes about alleged victim(s):
Alleged victim information
- Gender of alleged victim: female
- Age of alleged victim at time of alleged crime(s): 5
- Notes about alleged victim(s):
LDS church response(s)
Add info | Back to top- Alleged failure to report by local LDS leaders? yes
- Alleged misconduct by local LDS leaders? yes
- Alleged misconduct by global LDS leaders? yes
FLOODLIT is not aware whether the Mormon church paid any settlement amounts related to this case.