Lloyd Gerald Pond

Lloyd Pond Mormon Sex Crime Case Summary

Gerry Pond was a Mormon church spokesman in the 1990s. He groomed and raped a little girl while serving as the host and executive producer of “Times and Seasons”, a public affairs program of the LDS Church, broadcast nationally and overseas. The program focused on moral and social issues, including child abuse.

Pond groomed an 11-year-old girl, eventually photographing her nude and molesting her at age 13. He received a plea bargain which was criticized in the press for being too lenient. The bargain was considered special treatment because of his position and connections.

A newspaper article from March 2, 1997 discusses the plaintiff’s attempts to obtain discovery of the prosecutor’s file in the Pond case and the resistance put up by the Salt Lake City District Attorneys’ office to the civil subpoena.

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from the Salt Lake Tribune on 1996-11-23:

“Saturday, November 23, 1996

EX-LDS SPOKESMAN GUILTY OF SEX ABUSE

BY STEPHEN HUNT
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Former Mormon Church spokesman and radio host
Lloyd Gerald Pond pleaded guilty Friday to child sexual
abuse involving a 14-year-old girl.

Pond, who hosted the weekly radio program “Times
and Seasons” for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, also made a tearful apology.

“I alone am responsible for this situation,”
Pond told reporters. “I want to apologize to the victim
and her family, and to the LDS Church and the community.”
He stressed there was no relation between his crimes and
the Mormon Church.

“I apologize for my conduct and hope I can get
the help I need,” Pond added.

Pond, 51, has resigned as a church employee.
Meanwhile, church officials have pulled Pond’s radio
programs from more than 600 radio stations nationwide. The
programs dealt with a variety of social issues, including
the evils of child abuse, addiction and pornography.

Police say that during a Nov. 6 “modeling
session,” Pond forced himself on the girl at Trinity
Broadcasting Network Station, 6475 W. 5400 South, West
Valley City, where he worked nights as a technician.

He took pictures of the girl in her underwear,
telling her it was art, police said. Then he forced her
into performing oral sex on him. The girl was so upset that
she told her school counselor, who called police.

Last week, Pond was charged with two counts of
first-degree felony forcible sodomy. But in a quickly
negotiated plea deal, he pleaded guilty to one count of
second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.

Prosecutor James Cope said the plea bargain will
prevent the victim from becoming “an item of publicity at
the age of 14.”

Pond could be sent to prison for up to 15 years
when he is sentenced Feb. 3 by Judge Robert K. Hilder. But
prosecutors will not oppose probation if a psychological
evaluation shows Pond’s relationship with the victim is an
isolated incident.

“We want to find out what it is that made him do
this,” Cope said.

If it appears Pond’s conduct was prompted by a
midlife crisis, probation and counseling may be in order,
Cope said. But if Pond is a pedophile who has abused other
victims, he should go to prison, he said.

On Thursday, police searched Pond’s home, and
earlier the radio station, but found nothing. Cope
believes, however, that Pond may have a hidden stash of
pornography.

“In almost every case of this kind I’ve seen,
they have a cache of this stuff,” Cope said. “If he’s got
something, I hope he has enough conscience and good grace
to deliver it” to police.

Pond met the victim at their West Valley LDS ward
when she was 11, and agreed to help her with a radio and
modeling career, according to police.

Every Wednesday for three years, the girl and
Pond went to the radio station, where she modeled lingerie,
bikini swimsuits, bras and panties, police said. Pond also
instructed the girl to record sexually explicit audiotapes
which he told her were to be sold out of state or used on a
phone-sex line. For phoning the station and uttering
obscene phrases, Pond paid the girl $10 a call.

Pond also befriended the girl’s mother, who
apparently trusted him enough because of his position with
the church to send her daughter with him. On some
occasions, however, the victim’s younger sister went along.
She was not a victim.

Pond is free on $20,000 bond. He must report
daily to authorities and avoid contact with anyone under
18, except his children.”