Peter Taylor

01/01/88

Washington

LDS Peter Taylor “was accused of and pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his
stepdaughters.” “1[6 According to Jessica, sometime in 1995 she met with Bishop Hatch and
told him her stepfather was sexually abusing her. Jessica testified that she told her friend,
Cherisse Anderson that “[Taylor] was coming into [her] room at night, and abusing [her].”
Cherisse encouraged her to speak to their bishop. Jessica stated that she went to Bishop
Hatch because she “just wanted the abuse to stop. That’s it.” Jessica testified that Bishop
Hatch referred to a conversation with Cherisse in which Cherisse had suggested that Taylor
had been touching Jessica inappropriately. Jessica testified that after some “back and
forth,” she told Bishop Hatch that her stepfather “touched me on my private parts in the
middle of the night, in my bed, and it did make me uncomfortable.”

1f7 According to Jessica, Bishop Hatch responded, “I’m so glad you came and talked to me,
because I don’t have to report it.” Jessica said that Bishop Hatch then talked about another
family in the ward. She testified that he told her “that one of the twin daughters had gone to
the school counselor, and told the school counselor that her dad was abusing her, and the
school counselor reported it to Child [Protective Services], And [then] he said that, Child
[Protective Services] went into the house, the family is losing everything, they are going
bankrupt, and everybody in the ward is gossiping about them.” When asked at trial, Jessica
replied that she knew about the Roberts family at the time “because there were people
talking about it.” She stated that [the] message came across pretty loud and clear when he
said, “I’m so glad you came to me and not to a school counselor, or not to a teacher,” and
so on and so forth, meaning that he wouldn’t have to report it. But, had I gone to somebody
else, they would have reported it. And the situation, what happened to the Roberts family,
would be what would happen to my family. ^[12 In 1998, in an e-mail conversation with a
friend, Jessica disclosed that her stepfather had sexually abused her for a number of years.
The friend notified the new bishop of their LDS ward, Bishop Wade. After being told that
Bishop Wade had been informed of the abuse, Jessica met with him. She begged him not
to report the allegations; he insisted that he had to. According to Jessica’s testimony, she
said, “But Bishop Hatch said he didn’t have to report it.” She stated that Bishop Wade
replied, “Well, he didn’t handle it the right way.” She also said that he encouraged her to tell
her mother so that Taylor would move out of the family home. Bishop Wade indicated that it
would be better if Taylor was not in the house when CPS came. Bishop Wade then
confronted Taylor about the abuse, and Taylor confessed to Wade. See Jane Doe v. Corp.
of President of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 122 Wn. App. 556, 90 P.3d
1147 (2004), review denied, 153 Wn.2d 1025 (2005) (related case finding that Taylor
confessed the abuse to Wade). ”

Support FLOODLIT.org

Donate to help FLOODLIT cover our research expenses, including obtaining court records and police documents.