was a prominent LDS church member in Salt Lake City, Utah; served in numerous church leadership positions; was president of the Utah Symphony; was general manager of Deseret News Publishing Company and editor of the Deseret News; accused posthumously, along with his wife Christine Hinckley Robinson, of child sexual abuse

Case report

Oliver Preston Robinson was a prominent Mormon church member in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Along with his wife, Christine Hinckley Robinson, Preston was posthumously accused of child sexual abuse by a victim in an episode of Mormon Stories Podcast on July 5, 2022.

Robinson was a personal mentor to Thomas Monson, who later became president of the LDS church.

Case facts

Case videos

    • Video title: Suffering Abuse in the Shadow of Mormon Prophets - Christine Burton | Ep. 1621
    • Video description: [Jane Doe] tells her heartbreaking story of abuse, neglect and dismissal by multiple Mormon Prophets while they simultaneously publicly extolled the "virtues" of her abusive mother and father. Listen as she expresses her growth in healing the generational abuse, loving her gay son in troubled times, losing loved ones to shame and finding her voice! This Mormon Stories podcast is one you won't soon forget!

Case information sources

  1. DEATH: DR. OLIVER PRESTON ROBINSON, PH.D
    view source details | 11 Nov 1990 | Deseret News

Case information source details

  • DEATH: DR. OLIVER PRESTON ROBINSON, PH.D
    Publisher: Deseret News
    Date: 11 Nov 1990
    Archive.org
    Source type: News article

    Dr. Oliver Preston Robinson, Ph.D, age 87, died November 10, 1990, while hospitalized, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had suffered a heart attack on November 1st.

    Born June 25, 1903 in Farmington, Utah the seventh of nine children, to James Henry and Romania Elizabeth Chaffin Robinson. Married Christine Hinckley on September 16, 1929 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. Dr. Robinson received a bachelor's degree from BYU in 1928 and a master's degree from New York University. He received a doctorate degree in marketing and retailing in 1935 from NYU where he also was a professor until 1947. He then became Professor and Department Head of Retailing at the University of Utah. He was in charge of retailing at Hofstra College, Hempstead, New York (1934-1937); an instructor at the University of Newark, New Jersey (1935); in charge of marketing instruction, National Institute of Credit (1935-1946).In 1950 he was assistant manager at the Deseret News and, in 1952, general manager of Deseret News Publishing Co. and editor of the Deseret News. Member of the board, secretary of the Newspaper Agency Corporation, and was also affiliated in various capacities with Deseret Book Company, Publisher's Paper Company, Utah Manufacturers Association, and the National Safety Council.

    From 1956 to 1964 he served as a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army. In 1967, he became Chairman of the Board of Promised Land Publications. Jointly with his wife, he completed more than ten books on religious history, political and professional topics. He was the author or co-author of many books on marketing, merchandising and salesmanship and has written a number of publications on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

    Active in the LDS Church, he served a mission to France (1924-1927); as a member of the Sunday School General Board; and as mission president with his wife, he presided over the British Mission (1964-1967). He has been a member of the Federal Heights Ward Bishopric, a High Priest Group presidency member in the Emigration Stake, and with his wife, historian for the Murray 23rd Ward.

    He has served his community and country in such positions as assistant director, War Training Center at NYU; as president of the Youth Tobacco Action Commission; as a member of the USO National Council; as a recipient of the national Allstate Crusade America Award; as president of the Utah Symphony; member of the Salt Lake Country Club and the Salt Lake Rotary Club. Traveling extensively, he interviewed leaders throughout the world and visited with many heads of state and ambassadors in the Middle East of which he has written numerous articles. In 1962 he moderated a television debate between California gubernatorial candidates Edmund G. Brown and Richard M. Nixon.

    Our father has left us a rich and noble heritage. He counseled and educated his children and grandchildren alike. His family will be eternally grateful for his brilliant mind, believing spirit, and familial devotion. He has and will continue to bring out the best in all of us. May our lives and those of our descendants honor his memory.

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 in all sorts of ways, including by LDS church position, number of victims, places where crimes took place, or criminal/civil case result.

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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