John Cox was a Mormon church member in Clackamas County, Oregon; convicted of child sexual abuse.
Please donate to keep Floodlit alive, and tell a friend we need support! 

This case arose in 1985 in Oregon.

The following information about LDS church member John Lee Cox comes from a court record:

“The defendant was convicted in the Circuit Court, Clackamas County, (Dale Jacobs, Judge), of two counts of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree attempted rape, and he appealed.

Before trial, he moved to suppress evidence of a statement that he had made on August 28, 1985, after he was indicted, to Beck, a marriage counselor and Mormon clergyman. In that statement, defendant admitted that he had had sexual intercourse with the victim, his step-daughter, once after he had joined the Mormon Church. The court denied the motion.

At trial, defendant moved separately to strike Beck’s testimony and for a mistrial. The court denied the motions. Defendant assigns the three rulings as errors. He asserts that they violated the clergy-penitent privilege under OEC 506. We agree and reverse. “

Have any info on this or other Mormon sex abuse cases? Contact us.

As an independent newsroom, FLOODLIT relies on your generous support to make thousands of reports of sexual abuse in the Mormon church available. If you find our work helpful, please consider donating! Thank you so much for helping us shine a light.

Search the FLOODLIT Database

Share this page https://floodlit.org/a/a078/

Sources

  1. State v. Cox, Justia, March 1, 2026.

Documents

Have docs or info? Add information

Criminal case documents

Floodlit does not have a copy of a related probable cause affidavit. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for one.

Civil case documents

Floodlit does not have a copy of a related civil complaint. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for one.

Other documents

Floodlit does not have a copy of any other related documents. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for some.

Add information

If someone you know was harmed by the person listed on this page, or if you would like us to add or correct any information, please fill out the form below. We will keep you anonymous. You can also contact us directly.

Other Mormon sex abuse cases

    • Marvin Harker (1968 – ) was an LDS bishop in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada in 2016; reportedly confessed to his mission president in 1987 to sexually abusing multiple children; also reportedly confessed to his bishop; both leaders told him not to report to police, according to records in a 2016 criminal case; convicted in 2019 (alleged abuse 1986-93); sentenced in 2020 to five years in prison; registered sex offender
    • View report »
    • David Cannata (1965 – ) was a Mormon bishop in Tucson, Arizona in 2005 when he sexually abused a child who was 5 or 6 years old; was a stake high council member sometime in the 2010s; was confronted by the victim and turned himself into the police; convicted in 2019 and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison; was excommunicated from the Mormon church because of the abuse
    • View report »
    • Joseph Neipp was a former LDS bishop in San Jose, California; in 2021, pleaded no contest to four molestation counts and was given an 18-year prison sentence, with credit for the three years he spent in county jail prior to his sentencing; father of convicted Mormon child sexual abuser Samuel Neipp
    • View report »