was an LDS church member in Utah and Georgia; convicted three times of sex crimes: Scotland in the 1990s, Utah in 2001, Georgia in 2020; assigned to be a young men's president in a Georgia LDS branch in 2017; arrested in 2019 and charged with eight felony counts of child sexual exploitation; convicted; as of November 2023, lives in Fort Valley, Georgia as a registered sex offender

class="case-summary-title">Facts

Summary

Brandon Manning was an LDS church member who was convicted three times of sex crimes:

  • in the 1990s while serving a Mormon mission in Scotland (sexual assault)
  • in 2001 in Utah (child sexual abuse)
  • in 2020 in Georgia (child sexual exploitation)

1993: Scotland Mormon missionary sex abuse case

In September 1993, Brandon Manning was a Mormon missionary in Scotland.

While in the Glasgow, Scotland area, Manning sexually assaulted Rachel Fenwick, who has given FLOODLIT permission to use her name in reporting about Manning’s history of abuse, in hopes of encouraging other abuse survivors to come forward.

At the time, Rachel was a 4-year-old girl.

In a 1995 letter, an attorney representing Fenwick told Fenwick’s family member that “to attempt proceedings against either the Mormon Church or against Brandon Lee Manning would be pointless because (a) of the fact that Brandon Lee Manning was a volunteer and (b) the cost of litigating against Brandon Lee Manning as an individual in the United States would be a fruitless exercise.”

In 1993, Manning was sent home early to North Ogden, Utah from his full-time LDS mission to Scotland, according to a source who told FLOODLIT that Manning said “he had been accused of something heinous.”

The abuse happened in September, 1993 in Langside, Glasgow.

The case was put forward to the Magistrates Court (Langside area) Glasgow.

The Mormon church was in Langside, Glasgow, on the same street as where the victim lived, near a school.

The case took up to 3-5 weeks. Manning denied the charges against him.

He was found guilty and fined £300 as it was his first offense in the country.

Manning was then deported back to the US and placed on the UK sex offender list for life.

He was also banned from returning to the UK.

FLOODLIT is attempting to get related court documents and official paperwork from the Strathclyde Police, Glasgow.

2001: Brandon Manning Utah child sexual abuse case

Brandon Manning was married in the Manti, Utah temple in June 1995, despite being a convicted sexual abuser.

In 2001, Manning was convicted of two Class A misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse of a minor, as part of a plea deal where one of the charges was reduced from a third degree felony to a misdemeanor.

At sentencing, Manning’s jail sentence of 365 days in the Weber County Jail was reduced to where 335 days were suspended, leaving him to serve 30 days in jail for sexually abusing a child, and despite his prior conviction in Scotland for sexual assault of an underage victim. He was not fined.

He was ordered to complete sex offender therapy with Family Reconstruction out of state, and to submit an updated report to the court in Utah every 90 days for a period of 365 days.

Manning was also ordered by the court not to have any unsupervised contact with teenagers under the age of 18 while on probation.

2019: Brandon Lee Manning Georgia child sexual exploitation case

Despite his conviction in Utah in 2001, Manning was assigned to be a young men’s president in a Georgia LDS ward in 2017.

Manning was arrested in 2019 and charged with eight felony counts of child sexual exploitation.

As of 2023, he lives in Georgia and is a registered sex offender. He was released from prison in April 2023.

Were you sexually abused by Brandon Lee Manning?

If you were abused by Brandon Manning, please contact us so we can put you in touch with other survivors (if you wish) and add information to this case report.

Floodlit is currently in touch with a victim of Manning’s abuse.

Thank you for shining a light.

Images/photos

Sources

  1. A Greene County businessman is facing child pornography charges.
    view source details | 21 Nov 2019 | Dock 103.9 - The Voice of Lake Oconee
  2. Greensboro man arrested on 8 counts of child pornography
    view source details | 20 Nov 2019 | Union-Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia)
  3. Brandon Lee Manning
    view source details | 29 Nov 2023 | Georgia Sex Offender Registry

Source details

Browse the Mormon Sexual Abuse Database

FLOODLIT.org has a free public database of hundreds of reports about people who committed or allegedly committed sex crimes, including sexual abuse, while they were active Mormon church members. You can browse the entire database by LDS church position, number of victims, places where crimes took place, criminal/civil case results, and other criteria.

View the Mormon Sexual Abuse Map

International map of locations where active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perpetrated or allegedly perpetrated sexual abuse or other sex crimes, or where LDS leaders failed or allegedly failed to help abuse survivors.

 

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