Donald Stalter

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1. NEWS Priest threatened to shoot his wife if 6-year-old rep, Penn Live, September 22, 2026.

• 1. NEWS Priest threatened to shoot his wife if 6-year-old rep

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  Donald Stalter held a loaded gun to his wife’s head on at least one occasion 20 years ago to ensure a 6-year-old girl’s continued silence, recently filed court documents reveal. He threatened to kill his wife if the girl told anyone about what he was doing to her, making the girl believe the woman’s life was in her hands.

  Stalter, a high priest with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sexually abused the girl at his Harrisburg home from summer 2005 to February 2006. She spoke up anyway, and her testimony helped convict him of sex crimes and put him in jail for the rest of his life.

  The girl — now an adult — is suing the church, arguing four children came forward with similar allegations and the church ignored them, allowing Stalter to eventually abuse her. In a statement emailed Tuesday, the church did not respond to the allegations in the lawsuit and provided a hyperlink to a list of online resources for abuse victims within the church. Stalter was a high priest in the church and served on the high council of the Harrisburg Pennsylvania Stake, both of which made him a figure of trust, authority and responsibility in the church’s hierarchy.

  The positions also afforded Stalter regular access to and the trust of the girl’s father, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit accuses the church of a count of negligence and a count of negligent hiring, retention and supervision within the church. The woman, whose name is being withheld because she is the victim of sexual abuse, is seeking unspecified damages. Stalter admitted in November 2007 he sexually abused three girls between the ages of 7 and 8 in a guilty plea in Dauphin County court. He was convicted of 4 felonies and 7 misdemeanors related to the sexual abuse, and also pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts of child pornography possession.

  in Centre County, according to a Department of Corrections spokesperson, and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit: Stalter sexually abused the girl while she was six to seven years old, at Stalter’s home on North 66th Street in Swatara Township. It was during these incidents that Stalter threatened to shoot his wife to ensure the girl’s silence. At least four other children made separate accusations of sexual abuse against Stalter to their parents, according to the lawsuit. They reported the abuse to Bishops and Stake Presidents of the Church, the lawsuit said, but church leadership took no action because it didn’t believe the children, according to the lawsuit. The woman now suing the church said her experience was much the same. In January or February 2007, the girl’s parents reported the abuse to church leaders and church leaders responded by instructing them not to disclose the abuse to others in the congregation.

  In its formal response to the lawsuit, the church denied most of the allegations — but said if it’s true the girl’s parents reported the abuse to church leaders, that report would constitute a “confidential, privileged conversation between clergy and penitent. Therefore, the allegations are denied.” Stalter was arrested that February because of the girl’s report. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints knew or should have known how dangerous Stalter was and the risk he posed to children in the congregation, the lawsuit said. The church failed to take reasonable steps to protect the children against him. Child victims of sexual abuse have until their 55th birthday to bring civil claims over their sexual abuse to court, per Pennsylvania’s Act 87 of 2019.

  Editor’s Note: This article was updated with a link to resources for abuse victims sent to PennLive by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.