If an average Mormon ward has 300 members, these 64+ convicted sex offenders were priesthood leaders of at least 19,200 Latter-day Saints – nearly enough to fill the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Assuming these men spent an average of 3 years in their church leadership positions and met privately with at least one ward/stake member a week, we think it’s reasonable to conclude that they held one-on-one private ecclesiastical interviews on over 10,000 occasions, including many with children and vulnerable adults.
(**) – a double asterisk means he was a Mormon bishop or stake president when he perpetrated; no asterisk means the sex crime(s) took place after he held the LDS leadership position
Year convicted | Name | LDS position | Place convicted |
|---|---|---|---|
1988 | bishop** | Alberta | |
1989 | bishop | Utah | |
1989 | bishop | Utah | |
1989 | bishop | British Columbia | |
1990 | bishop** | New Mexico | |
1991 | bishop** | Arizona | |
1992 | bishop** | Texas | |
1994 | bishop | Oklahoma | |
1994 | stake president** | Utah | |
1996 | bishop** | Idaho | |
1997 | stake president** | California | |
2000 | bishop | Alberta | |
2001 | bishop** | Ontario | |
2002 | bishop** | Utah | |
2002 | bishop | California | |
2002 | bishop** | Utah | |
2004 | stake president** | Idaho | |
2004 | bishop | Argentina | |
2006 | bishop | Utah | |
2007 | stake president | Nevada | |
2008 | bishop | Ohio | |
2008 | bishop | Texas | |
2008 | bishop | Utah | |
2008 | bishop | England | |
2009 | bishop | Utah | |
2011 | bishop** | Texas | |
2011 | bishop | Mississippi | |
2011 | bishop** | Utah | |
2013 | bishop** | California | |
2014 | bishop | Utah | |
2014 | bishop | Utah | |
2015 | bishop | Utah | |
2016 | bishop | Texas | |
2017 | bishop | Arizona | |
2017 | bishop | Utah | |
2017 | bishop | Idaho | |
2017 | bishop** | Utah | |
2017 | bishop** | Utah | |
2018 | bishop** | Utah | |
2019 | bishop | Utah | |
2019 | bishop | Alberta | |
2019 | bishop** | Utah | |
2019 | bishop | Utah | |
2019 | bishop** | Utah | |
2019 | bishop | Tennessee | |
2019 | bishop** | Australia | |
2020 | stake president | Idaho | |
2020 | bishop** | Oregon | |
2020 | bishop** | Utah | |
2020 | bishop | Utah | |
2020 | bishop | Virginia | |
2021 | bishop** | California | |
2021 | bishop** | Utah | |
2021 | bishop | Nevada | |
2021 | bishop** | Missouri | |
2021 | bishop | California | |
2022 | bishop** | Utah | |
2022 | bishop | New Mexico | |
2022 | bishop | Utah | |
2022 | stake president | Utah | |
2022 | bishop | Idaho | |
2023 | bishop | Virginia | |
2023 | bishop | Utah | |
2023 | bishop | Texas |
Note: This list is not comprehensive; for example, we’ve done very little research into relevant criminal cases in primarily non-English speaking countries. And we didn’t include cases before 1985, because sex crimes were so rarely prosecuted before then. (Related timeline)
Why make a list like this?
- LDS church representatives have said that sexual abuse by LDS leaders or actively participating members is extremely rare (example from 2010).
- Former LDS church president Gordon Hinckley said during a 60 Minutes interview in 1996 that “there’ll be a blip here, a blip there, a mistake here, a mistake there” among local lay leaders dealing with reports of abuse. (An Interview With Gordon Hinckley. Original segment aired Apr. 7, 1996.)
- The LDS church has said, “The Church has long had a highly effective approach for preventing and responding to abuse. In fact, no religious organization has done more. Although no one system is perfect and no single program will work with every organization, the Church’s approach is the gold standard.” (Effectiveness of Church Approach to Preventing Child Abuse. Dec. 1, 2015.)
Did you ever attend the same ward or stake as any of these men?
If so, please message us – we’re trying to raise awareness about sexual abuse in the Mormon church. Thank you.