Arlin Hatch

UPDATE 2/4/25: Lawsuit dismissed without prejudice.

Arlin Hatch was a Mormon church member in Riverside, California in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2025, a lawsuit against the Mormon church alleged that Hatch sexually abused multiple children, including the plaintiff.

The alleged abuse took place in approximately 1989 when the victim was 8 years old. Hatch was never criminally charged, and the Mormon church sent him on a mission in 1991. Hatch was 17 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

The plaintiff claimed his bishop (who was his father) scolded and spanked him for disclosing that he was sexually abused Hatch, who was then a 17-year-old boy in their ward. The church allegedly sent the abuser on a mission even after he admitted the abuse to the bishop. The suit says church leaders instructed the victim’s parents to send him to Samoa to get “behavioral modification therapy,” where he was severely physically and psychologically abused.

The Mormon church is the only named defendant.

FLOODLIT has obtained a copy of the 33-page civil complaint. The following is a condensed summary of the timeline.

The alleged abuse took place in approximately 1989 when the victim (“Doe”) was 8 years old and Hatch was 17.

Doe’s father Scott Jones was bishop of Doe’s and Hatch’s ward.

When Doe told Jones about Hatch’s abuse, Jones scolded and spanked Doe, the lawsuit says. Doe’s mother, L.J., said she did not believe Doe.

Hatch was not disciplined by the Mormon church for abusing Doe, according to the suit. He was also never criminally charged.

The suit says in 1991, one week before leaving on a full-time LDS mission, Hatch admitted the abuse to Jones.

Hatch said that “in order to leave for his mission trip, he was required by [the church] to apologize for abusing [Doe].”

Instead of taking action, Bishop Jones allegedly “accepted the apology on behalf of [Doe] and did not tell [Doe] about [Arlin Hatch]’s admission until [Doe] […] disclosed the abuse to him again, years later.”

As a result of unresolved trauma, Doe allegedly began drinking alcohol and using marijuana and became hypersexualized. Jones responded to this behavior by beating Doe regularly.

When Jones saw that this was an ineffective method of addressing Doe’s trauma and resulting behavior, he sought guidance from the stake president and members of the ward bishopric, the lawsuit said.

The stake president and bishopric allegedly instructed Jones to send Doe to receive “behavioral modification therapy” at Paradise Cove, a program in Samoa affiliated with the Mormon church.

Paradise Cove participated in the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP), a behavior modification effort designed by and largely implemented by Mormon church leaders and members, the lawsuit said.

From 1995 to 1996, Doe endured extreme abuse of various kinds at Paradise Cove, according to the suit.

He was abducted from his home in California, hog-tied, blindfolded, and taken to St. George, Utah in a van. The lawsuit said Doe was “not allowed to say goodbye to any of his family members.”

Doe was allegedly kept in St. George for about a month while the program awaited the arrival of his passport.

Doe was strip-searched, required to change clothes, and was kept in a cell on a remote property. He was only allowed out of his cell to use the bathroom, according to the complaint.

Doe was given no context as to why he was being detained, and he desperately pleaded with staff to be released.

Once Doe’s passport arrived, he was sent to Paradise Cove. There, he was “forced to endure multiple ‘Encounter Groups,’ where [he] was required to stand in the middle of a circle of staff members and other children and share his most painful memories with them.”

Doe told everyone about being abused by Hatch, his father (and bishop) failing to protect him, and his father physically abusing him for disclosing the abuse, the lawsuit said.

The Paradise Cove staff then shouted “degrading and demeaning statements” at Doe and forced other children to do the same. The complaint said they yelled that Doe “was raped and liked it” and other insults.

Throughout Doe’s time at Paradise Cove, he was physically and psychologically abused while being pressured and told to “move on and forgive his abuser.”

A counselor provided by the Mormon church required Doe to write a letter to his parents about the abuse, the lawsuit said.

Doe’s father replied, telling Doe that Hatch had “already admitted the abuse” to him years earlier and that Doe should “ignore it and move forward.”

The complaint said Doe was not allowed to return home to California until it became “medically necessary.”

Doe returned home having lost approximately 40 pounds and suffering from wounds on his arms and legs, which were allegedly infested with maggots and pus.

He spoke with his LDS bishop and parents about what he had endured, the lawsuit said.

Doe’s parents looked for medical help through a doctor with ties to the Mormon church “so as to not raise suspicion regarding the obvious abuse.”

The Mormon church then “arranged compensation for the psychological and physical abuse Doe endured at Paradise Cove.”

While Doe was in California for about a month, the LDS church arranged for Doe to “be fostered by other highly involved members” in Samoa, until he reached adulthood.

The Mormon church allegedly arranged for Doe to live in Samoa with a woman for six months before transferring him to be fostered by another woman in Samoa until he turned 19.

The first Samoan woman was involved in Paradise Cove as well. Her alleged role was to speak with Doe and other children at the facility and report their status back to their parents.