Thomas Dawkins was an LDS church member in Columbia, South Carolina; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in 1986; the conviction was later overturned.

Gene Dawkins was a Mormon church member in Columbia, South Carolina.

A “Mormon Sunday school teacher was accused of “the worst case of sexual abuse I’ve ever seen during my 30 years in law enforcement,” according to Richard County Sheriff Frank Powell of Elgin, South Carolina. “I’m not sure how a child can cope with something like this.” Much of the abuse occurred during church outings, or during privately arranged meetings. Dawkins denied guilt, instead, according to reports, “praying and reading from the Book of Mormon.”

Dawkins was accused of brutally torturing and raping a girl over a two-year period starting when she was 13, terrifying her into submission by cutting her, showing her body parts he kept in jars, and threatening to dissect her.

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Sources

  1. source 1, Justia, February 19, 2024.

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