Was Scout leader,
Unknown result,
updated Jan 18, 2025 - request update
John Doe (pseudonym) was a Mormon church member and Cub/Boy Scout leader in the United States. In the 2020s, a sexual abuse survivor identified Doe as part of a “proof of claim” submission in the massive Boy Scouts of America (BSA) bankruptcy case. The claim was one of 2,854 that directly identified the Mormon church, according to an expert analysis of the LDS church’s potential total liability for the sexual abuse allegations. The alleged abuse took place prior to the bankruptcy filing in February 2020, and may have dated back as early as the 1940s. FLOODLIT is seeking court documents and more details about these cases.
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Other Mormon sex abuse cases
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- Kenneth Jenks was an LDS church member in California (Milpitas Ward); was a ward executive secretary and ward librarian; charged with sexual abuse; convicted; served 14 years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor under duress; three victims sued the LDS church, claiming it knew about Jenks's abuse but allowed him to work with children
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- Arthur Stout was a Mormon church member in Littlerock, California; in 2024, a civil lawsuit said he sexually assaulted a girl "on a weekly basis" from 1991 to 1997, starting when she was 5 years old; some of the alleged abuse took place in an LDS church building
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- Derek Layton was an LDS church member in Arizona; accused of sexual abuse in the late 1980s; convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for "sexual conduct with minor and dangerous crimes against children"
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- Carl Pratt (1930 – 2006) was a Mormon bishop in San Manuel, Arizona; allegedly sexually abused a boy in his ward, in the bishop's office at an LDS chapel; died in 2006
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- George Aaron (1941 – ) was a former Mormon bishop in a college ward in Provo, Utah; allegedly sexually abused his two teenage daughters in the 1980s and early 1990s; found civilly liable in 2001 to have "inflicted emotional distress," "breached fiduciary duty," and behaved with "reckless disregard" toward his younger daughter; paid $25,000 in punitive damages
- View report »
"I was sitting in a room, full of women, who had been sexually abused by a family member — most of them [saying], 'My father abused me. I told the bishop. Nothing happened.' I just knew that wasn't going to be my story. I wasn’t going to allow that to be my story."— Jane Doe-
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- David McGhie (1963 – ) was an LDS church member in Utah; convicted in 2000 of child sexual abuse; an LDS bishop was accused of failing to report the abuse
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- Gordon Bodily (1949 – ) was a Mormon bishop and physical education teacher in Hyrum, Cache Valley, Utah; accused in 2000 of luring a 17-year-old North Carolina girl to Utah for sex while serving as an LDS bishop; sentenced in 2001 to 21 months in federal prison
- View report »
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- Keith McDowall (1925 – 2018) was a Mormon church member in Canberra, Australia; accused of sexual abuse of relatives, including an infant
- View report »
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- Darrell Howe was an LDS church member in Washington; accused of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit; the minor abuse victim and his mother filed suit against the LDS church and its officers deemed responsible; upon appeal, the judgment of the court again ruled against the plaintiff
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- Rowan Ellsworth (1948 – ) was an LDS church member and schoolteacher in Arizona; allegedly molested a 14-year-old girl at an LDS girls camp in mid-1990; the abuse was reported to a bishop Burgess, who allegedly failed to report to police, but instead encouraged the victim to forgive; sentenced to prison in 1999 for two counts of child sexual abuse; released in 2007
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- John Doe was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse
- View report »
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- Devin Hartman (1975 – ) was an LDS church member in Mableton, near Atlanta, Georgia; accused of sexual abuse; convicted; given two consecutive sentences of life in prison
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in Australia; accused of sexual abuse
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- James Adams (1954 – ) was a Mormon church member in Beckley, West Virginia; sentenced to prison in 1994 for sexually abusing multiple children; in 1996, a $750 million lawsuit was filed against the Mormon church alleging coverup; the suit was settled out of court in 2000
- View report »
"The church is not in the business of covering up."— Church spokesman Don LeFevre-
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- Chesley Pierson (1928 – 2021) was an LDS bishop, stake presidency counselor and stake patriarch in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; accused of sexually abusing multiple young men
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- Paul Lewis was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Seattle, Washington; accused of sexual abuse; the victim sued the Mormon church in 2006
- View report »
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- Michael Antrobus (1947 – 2023) was a former Mormon branch president (similar to a bishop) and bishop in Connersville, Indiana for 10 years (approximately 1974-84); convicted of child sexual abuse charges (9 counts, 6 victims) in Sacramento County, California in 2021-2022; sentenced to 8 years in San Quentin State Prison; died by suicide in prison in September 2023; allegedly had at least a dozen victims
- View report »
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- Melvin McKinney was an LDS church member in California; accused of sexual abuse
- View report »
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- Lon Kennard (1941 – 2019) was a former Mormon bishop in Heber City, Utah; in 2011, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child; sentenced in 2011 to three consecutive terms of five years to life in the Utah State Prison
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- Douglas Stoddard (1949 – ) was an LDS bishop in Hurst, Texas; convicted in 1992 of a felony child sexual abuse charge of indecency with a child by contact; sentenced to 8 years of probation; a lifetime registered sex offender in Texas; named publicly in August 2023 by a victim who said Stoddard molested him and three other boys in his Mormon ward while serving as bishop
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- George Tilson (1942 – 2020) was a Mormon church member in the Salt Lake City, Utah area (including Holladay); pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse in the 1990s; alleged coverup by Mormon leaders
- View report »
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- Marcus Udall (1996 – ) was an LDS church member in Maricopa County, Arizona; accused of child sexual abuse; pleaded guilty in 2014 to a reduced felony charge;
- View report »
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- Keith Bergstresser (1975 – ) was an LDS church member in Oregon and Idaho; convicted in 2002 in Oregon of contributing to sexual delinquency of a minor; made a registered sex offender; in 2019, was assigned a position in an elders quorum presidency in Idaho
- View report »
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- Dylan Whiting (1988 – ) was an LDS bishop in Nampa, Idaho; was removed from his position in 2021 after child sexual abuse allegations surfaced; was charged with four sex crimes; pleaded guilty to one felony count; sentenced in 2022 to prison
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- Kip Later was an LDS church member and scout leader in Idaho; accused in the 1980s of sexual abuse; Mormon church leaders allegedly failed to tell police about abuse allegations
- View report »
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- Timothy Johnson was a Mormon church member in Oregon; pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to 15 years in prison; a lawsuit against the Mormon church was dismissed with prejudice
- View report »
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- Christopher Bartle (1960 – ) was a Mormon church member in Perth, Western Australia; accused of sexual abuse of four girls that allegedly took place between 1998 and 2007
- View report »
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- Lowell Robison (1944 – 2018) was a Mormon mission president in the Mexico Leon mission (1995-1998) and stake president of the Provo, Utah Edgemont Stake (2001-2006); accused in 2018 of sexual abuse of multiple people; two months later, died by suicide
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- John Doe (1961 – ) was an LDS church member and former Mormon bishop in Alabama, Alaska and Texas; in 2022 or 2023, confessed to child sexual abuse to his LDS bishop and stake president in Texas, according to a person familiar with the case; they reported him to local police in 2023; in 2024, a plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against him; Doe and the church settled with the victim in 2025
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- Larry Johnson was a Mormon mission president from 1989 to 1992 (Virginia Roanoke) and a longtime LDS institute teacher in California; accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed in 2021 in Orange County, California against Johnson and the LDS church; case ended in a settlement
- View report »
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- David Bennett (1954 – ) was an LDS church member and scout leader in California and Korea; convicted in 1987 in California of child sexual abuse; moved to Korea; was assigned to be an LDS young men's president and scoutmaster; was accused of molesting several boys; disappeared in 1991; FLOODLIT is attempting to locate him
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- Ralph Neeley (1949 – 2020) was an LDS church member in the Beaumont, Texas area; was sentenced in January 1994 to life in prison in Texas for repeated sexual abuse of an 8-year-old girl in an LDS chapel during church meetings and in other locations; died in prison in 2020; the Mormon church reportedly paid several million US dollars in a settlement to the victim
- View report »
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- Clark Crookston (1949 – ) was a former Mormon bishop, dentist and college professor in Orem, Utah; accused of nearly 60 years of sex abuse of multiple children; pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2022 to up to 35 years in prison
- View report »
"I assumed I was alone. I felt guilty even to question his worthiness. [...] I buried the hurt and kept it secret for over 30 years. [...] The children who came forward are my heroes. These are the brave souls [who] broke the curse that has been happening for nearly 60 years."— Jane Doe, abuse survivor-
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- Manuel Archibeque (1971 – ) was a Mormon church member in Maricopa County, Arizona; allegedly admitted to his bishop that he had sexually touched a child; charged in two cases in 2006 with sexual conduct with a minor and three counts of molestation of a child, all class two felonies; one case was dismissed in 2006 without prejudice; in the other, pleaded guilty to two reduced charges of child abuse
- View report »
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- Ronald Jenkins (1942 – ) was a Mormon scout leader, bishopric counselor and stake high council member in Idaho; worked as a high school teacher; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in 1996 of 10 counts of lewd conduct with a minor; sentenced to 17 years in prison; registered sex offender
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- Keith Williams (1956 – ) was a Mormon church member in Clearfield, Utah; accused of sexual abuse; allegedly molested a boy for three years; Mormon leaders allegedly failed to report the abuse to police, but approved Williams for an LDS temple wedding; convicted in 1991
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- John Doe was an LDS church member in California; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church
- View report »
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- Sterling Van Wagenen (1947 – ) was a co-founder of Sundance Film Festival and director of some Mormon temple endowment videos; publicly accused of sexual abuse of two children in two separate instances; sentenced to prison in 2019 for child sexual abuse
- View report »
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- Paul Barnes (1955 – ) was a Mormon stake patriarch and former stake presidency counselor in Queen Creek, Arizona; accused of child sexual abuse that took place in 2022 in Idaho; convicted in 2023 or later and sentenced to prison
- View report »
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- Keith Knutson (1968 – ) was a Mormon church member in Seattle, Washington; pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges in 1995; a Mormon bishop allegedly failed to report abuse allegations to police
- View report »
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- Steven Hammock (1941 – ) was an LDS church member in Utah; pleaded guilty in 1983 to two counts of forcible sex abuse of a child and served six months in an inpatient treatment facility; the LDS church excommunicated him, but during a civil suit filed in 1989 by the victim, it refused to divulge information that Hammock gave to church officials; in 1997, a federal judge awarded $150,000 in damages to the victim
- View report »
"When is everyone going to realize that this shit's got to stop?"— Jane Doe, abuse survivor-
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Documents
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Criminal case documents
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