Summary
Brian Pickett was a Mormon church leader who worked at the LDS Maui Land and Pineapple Company.
FLOODLIT is cleaning up case notes below – see the sources section.
This LDS company “recruited youths from Mormon communities in Utah and southern Idaho
to go to camps in Maui to pick pineapples in the 1970s and 1980s, which led to them being
sexually molested.”
“The lawsuit claims that Mormon men in their 20s, who qualified for supervisory positions
after completing their two-year missions, ran the camps, which recruited minors from church
wards and scouting organizations.” And claims that one man, who was appointed camp
coordinator, branch president and stake high counselor for one of the camps, molested the
two boys from 1986 until 1989.”
“Jacob Huggard and Kyle Spray said they were molested by a coordinator who oversaw
hundreds of boys at a camp from 1986 to 1988. Both men are now living in Pleasant Grove,
Utah. According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the church recruited hundreds of teen boys
from Utah and southeastern Idaho to work in Maui pineapple fields in the 1970s and 1980s.
The camps closed in the 1990s.”
Spray died by suicide in 2017.
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Alleged coverup-
LDS church payment: Undisclosed amount
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: Dismissed with prejudice, Lawsuit v. LDS church, Settlement,
- Positions: Branch president, Stake high council,
- During alleged crime: Branch president, Stake high council,
- When accused: Unknown position,
- Alleged crime: 1980s, in Hawaii,
- Crime scenes: LDS activity, Perpetrator's home,
- Victims: Multiple victims, Unknown number of victims,
- Mission: no
- Locations: Hawaii,
Sources
- Lawsuit: Mormon church covered up sexual abuse at Hawaii camps,
- Two Men File Lawsuit Against Mormon Church Alleging Sexual Abuse as Teens by Church Leader on Pineapple Farm in Hawaii,
- Kyle Spray, Victim (died by suicide in 2017),
- Jacob Huggard, Victim,
- obituary of victim Kyle Spray, who died by suicide,
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1. Lawsuit: Mormon church covered up sexual abuse at Hawaii camps
Two Utah men are suing the Mormon church claiming that decades ago they were sexually molested as boys after the church recruited them to pick pineapples in Hawaii.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the 2nd Circuit Court in Hawaii, alleges that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc. and Youth Developmental Enterprises, recruited youths from Mormon communities in Utah and southern Idaho to go to camps in Maui to pick pineapples in the 1970s and 1980s, which led to them being sexually molested.
The camps were closed in the '90s, the lawsuit claims.
The men, now 41 and 42, now live in the Salt Lake City area.
The lawsuit claims that Mormon men in their 20s, who qualified for supervisory positions after completing their two-year missions, ran the camps, which recruited minors from church wards and scouting organizations.
The lawsuit claims that one man, who was appointed camp coordinator, branch president and stake high counselor for one of the camps, molested the two boys from 1986 until 1989.
The lawsuit also claims that the defendants knew of the camp coordinator's "pedophilic sexual violence."
Cody Craynor, a spokesman for the LDS church, said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind and works actively to prevent abuse. This case was filed yesterday, and many details in the legal complaint are unclear. The church will examine the allegations and respond appropriately."
The alleged victims are seeking unspecified monetary damages, as well as changes to how the LDS Church deals with sexual abuse, and a written apology from the church.
The Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc. did not immediately return messages left seeking comment.
The lawsuit was made possible by a Hawaii law passed in 2012 that increases the previous two-year time limit to bring sexual assault civil suits to eight years from the time an alleged victim turns 18, or three years from when an alleged victim realizes his or her injury is due to the sexual offense, according to attorneys for the two Utah men.
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2. Two Men File Lawsuit Against Mormon Church Alleging Sexual Abuse as Teens by Church Leader on Pineapple Farm in Hawaii
Two men filed a civil lawsuit on Wednesday suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for sexual abuse that the plaintiffs claim occurred on a pineapple farm in Maui, Hawaii, from 1986 through 1988.
Jacob Huggard, 41, and Kyle Spray, 42, both of Utah, are alleging that they were sexually abused by the camp's coordinator. Brian Pickett was responsible with overseeing the hundreds of teenage boys from Utah and Idaho who worked the pineapple fields in the 1970s and 1980s.
In addition to the Mormon Church, Maui Land and Pineapple Co., which owned the farm land and camp housing, is also listed as a defendant. According to a press release, both companies recruited boys to work for the company, paying them for their work while also educating them in Mormon missionary lifestyle.
The lawsuit claims that abuse happened both at the farm and later at Pickett's private residence when he was promoted to vice president of operations.
It also alleges that Pickett's higher ups were aware of his actions, but did nothing to prevent the abuse from continuing.
"Despite having knowledge of the pedophilic sexual violence perpetrated by the defendant, Pickett, these other defendants did not report him to the authorities or take any action to protect plaintiffs from further molestation, which did occur," the lawsuit states.
"There were hundreds of boys over more than a decade cycled through these camps," attorney Randall Rosenberg said in the press release. "Hundreds were exposed to the alleged sexual predator in our case. We do not know how many others may have been molested, but our experience is that child sexual predators with access to kids have multiple victims."
A spokesperson for the Mormon Church said that it would investigate the claims.
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind and works actively to prevent abuse," church spokesman Cody Craynor said in a statement Thursday. "This case was filed yesterday, and many details in the legal complaint are unclear. The church will examine the allegations and respond appropriately."
Hawaii passed a law in 2012 that allows sex abuse civil suits to be filed after the statute of limitations has already passed, until April 2014.
Craig Vernon, an attorney for Huggard and Spray, told The Huffington Post that "we all believe there were other people who were abused" and urge them to come forward.
"Time is of the essence," he added.
The lawsuit seeks to change LDS' "corporate policies and procedures regarding reporting suspected child sexual abuse and ensure that alleged sex abusers are immediately removed from exposure to children," reported The Associated Press.
The pineapple camps closed their doors in the 1990s.
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3. Kyle Spray, Victim (died by suicide in 2017)
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4. Jacob Huggard, Victim
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5. obituary of victim Kyle Spray, who died by suicide
Documents
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Criminal case documents
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Civil case documents
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