News (225 articles)

Jared Buckley CSAM News

Former Utah charter school director pleads guilty to federal CSAM charges, admitted to creating chat group for parents to share images abusing their 0-9 year-old girls, reportedly was stake young men’s president when arrested

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UPDATE: June 9, 2026 On June 3, former Utah charter school director Jared Dallan Buckley pleaded guilty to: PRODUCING CSAM DISTRIBUTING CSAM POSSESSING CSAM “In his plea, he admitted that he created a group on an end-to-end encrypted chat application, specifically for parents to share content involving their own daughters under the age of 10.…

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Matthew H Kennington

Mormon sexual abuse: Utah prep school teacher, convicted 2011; in letter of support, former BYU law school dean called him “a man of principle and integrity”

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Matthew Kennington (1970 – ) was a Mormon church member and high school teacher at Maeser Preparatory Academy in Lindon, Utah; was convicted of four counts of forcible sexual abuse in 2011; allegedly groomed and sexually abused one of his students; sentenced in 2011 to nine months in jail and three years of probation. Matthew…

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Dale Everett Heckel

Mormon sex abuse case: Utah man abused woman with special needs after allegedly confessing abuse of previous victim to two LDS bishops, who reportedly did not report to police because they “didn’t want to ‘ruin his life'”

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Dale Heckel (1976 – ) was a Mormon church member in West Valley, Utah; convicted of sexual abuse in 2009; is a registered sex offender living in West Valley, Utah as of May 2026. Dale Everett Heckel case report » Heckel was convicted of sexually abusing a woman he worked with in 2009. The woman…

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Gerald Salcido

Mormon sexual abuse case: ex-police officer in Utah, Arizona, convicted; LDS church excommunicated him in 2006, but church officials allegedly never told police

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Gerald Salcido (1954 – ) was a Mormon church member and police officer in Mesa, Arizona and in Provo, Utah; accused of child sexual abuse of at least five children; Mormon officials knew in 1995 of alleged abuse, and excommunicated Salcido in 2006, but allegedly never reported abuse to police; convicted in 2020, sentenced to…

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Jared Harding Wilson

A temple’s tale: Years after child sex abuse lawsuit, Mormon stake president accused of coverup became temple president, abuser attended

Breaking, Lawsuits, News

BREAKING NEWS FROM FLOODLIT.org: A Floodlit investigation has revealed that after a stake president in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon church) was accused in a lawsuit of covering up child sexual abuse, the church then promoted him to be a seventy and temple president. The church settled the lawsuit in 2015.…

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Victim: LDS Primary general president (2005-10) covered up son’s alleged CSA in 1980s; he was convicted in 2018, 2023 of crimes related to CSA of two children

News, Uncategorized

Floodlit has updated our case report on Robert Tanner Lant of Utah, adding a timeline and details of allegations that Lant’s parents, both prominent members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, covered up child sexual abuse by Lant in the 1980s. Full case report Robert Lant was convicted in 2018 and in…

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When will the floodlights come on?

Facts, News

Did you know that right now there are convicted child sexual abusers in leadership positions in the Mormon church? Men and women (but likely at least 95% men) upon whom the church has placed a stamp of approval to be around, teach or even go on overnight trips with children, despite the fact that they’ve…

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Floodlit’s 3 year anniversary

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FLOODLIT Floodlit.org acknowledging 3 years of documenting sexual abuse in the Mormon church Floodlit launched three years ago today. In our effort to help shine a light on the sexual abuse problem in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we (Floodlit.org) have listed 4,132 documented cases of alleged abuse, written 221…

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URGENT: Help Floodlit.org support survivors of alleged child sexual abuse by Wade Christofferson. We need your info!

Breaking, News

URGENT: Please contact Floodlit.org if you are a survivor or know a survivor of alleged sexual abuse by Wade Christofferson, if you have any information about his leadership/membership history in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or if you knew him personally. We (Floodlit.org) are currently helping several abuse survivors to assemble information…

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Wade S Christofferson

BREAKING: Mormon church excommunicated alleged child sexual abuser, rebaptized him, put him in bishoprics, per multiple alleged victims who told Floodlit.org that church officials, including an apostle (the accused’s brother), kept abuse secret for years

Breaking, Facts, News

URGENT: Please contact Floodlit if you are a survivor or know a survivor of alleged sexual abuse by Wade Christofferson, if you have any information about his history in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or if you personally knew him. Thank you so much! contact Floodlit.org BREAKING NEWS FROM FLOODLIT.ORG Nov. 25,…

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Wade S Christofferson

Wade Christofferson: federal sex abuse charges unveiled; searched “In Ohio do clergy have to report child abuse confessions”, per court records

Breaking, Facts, News

UPDATE Nov. 26, 2025 – For further updates in this developing story, please see Floodlit’s case report on Wade Christofferson. Wade Christofferson case report » — FLOODLIT.ORG NEWS Nov. 25, 2025, 2:52 pm ET – On Nov. 20, Floodlit.org broke the news that Wade Christofferson, 72, of Dublin, Ohio, was being held in the Salt Lake…

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Mormon church accused of omitting evidence to stop sexual abuse lawsuit after rejected $250 million BSA immunity bid

BREAKING: Mormon church accused of omitting 19 pages of evidence in “deeply disingenuous” attempt to stop sexual abuse lawsuit after rejected $250M immunity bid

Breaking, Lawsuits, News, Special Reports

Floodlit, an independent newsroom reporting on sexual abuse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has obtained documents revealing a legal battle in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as part of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) bankruptcy proceedings. This article is part of a series of Floodlit special…

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Logan Cornwell

For the second time in four months, an Arizona Mormon dentist has been charged with child sex crimes

News

Logan Cornwell, a Mormon church member and dentist in the Gilbert-Mesa, Arizona, area, has been accused of child sex trafficking and misconduct involving weapons. Floodlit case report: https://floodlit.org/a/b418/ A review of Cornwell’s social media profiles indicated that he was married in a Mormon temple and was active in the Mormon church as of 2022. Floodlit…

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Mormon officials made a convicted child sex abuser the ward Santa and let him pass out candy, drive kids to activities and help with scout projects. In new Washington lawsuit, four plaintiffs say he met them through church, then sexually abused them hundreds of times.

Lawsuits, News1 Comment

Floodlit has obtained a copy of a civil lawsuit filed on Oct. 6 against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding convicted sexual abuser David Herget (1943 – 2005). In the lawsuit, four men say Mormon church officials allowed Herget to access them repeatedly between 2001 and 2005 in their Mountlake Terrace congregation…

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News: WA state agrees to let Catholic priests keep sex abuse secret, as Mormon church faces three lawsuits that say its clergy knowingly gave convicted abusers access to kids. We got court documents.

Lawsuits, News

Today, the Washington State Attorney General’s office announced that clergy in Washington will remain mandatory reporters under stipulations filed today by the AG‘s office and the plaintiffs (two religious organizations) in lawsuits against Washington over Senate bill 5375, which passed in May 2025. The new agreement protects Catholic priests from having to report abuse they…

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25 more Mormon sexual abusers added to Floodlit database

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Floodlit.org has just listed 25 more convicted Mormon sexual abusers, bringing our total to 4,370. Latest updates https://floodlit.org/accused/ – full database Each report contains links to available news sources and/or court documents, made possible by your support. You can report a Latter-day Saint sex abuse perpetrator at: https://floodlit.org/report-abuse/ Report an Abuser   Newly added Mormon…

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Dennis Empey AKA Joe Empey charged … again

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Details: Dennis Joe Empey case report Empey’s alleged sex crimes span at least 44 years (1981 – 2025). “This man has molested so many children that it involved four Bishops from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” — Joe Empey’s neighbor, pre-sentencing letter to Utah County judge George Ballif, Sept. 13, 1991 If…

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Latter-day Saint church in Potomac, Maryland

Rinse & Repeat: Mormon church trying to force BSA victim to dismiss sex abuse lawsuit

Breaking, Lawsuits, News, Special Reports

Floodlit case report: Richard Kent James Complaint: John Doe v. LDS Church, Bill Marriott, Mormon officials John Doe Objection to LDS Church Motion, BSA Bankruptcy, July 21, 2025 BREAKING: Mormon church accused of omitting 19 pages of evidence in “deeply disingenuous” attempt to stop sexual abuse lawsuit after rejected $250M immunity bid – Nov. 5,…

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Mormon sexual abuse news: ex-Utah firefighter arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting at least four young girls for years

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To read the full case report please visit: https://floodlit.org/a/b354/ Scott Kidman, a Mormon and former Ogden, Utah fireman, was arrested in September 2025 on suspicion of three counts of object rape, a first-degree felony. Thanks to your donations, Floodlit has obtained a copy of a police probable cause affidavit in Kidman’s case. Floodlit recognizes the…

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BREAKING: Utah Mormon youth leader, 47, arrested for allegedly attempting to meet 13-year-old girl at LDS church to sexually assault her

Breaking, News

Case report: https://floodlit.org/a/b345/ Jacob Fisher (Jake Fisher) was a Mormon church member and ward young men’s leader in Eagle Mountain, Utah. Fisher was arrested in August 2025 for allegedly sending explicit videos of himself to, and attempting to meet to sexually assault, a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl (but was actually an undercover…

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Former Mormon bishop, apostle’s biographer released from jail after allegedly sending explicit photos to and attempting to meet to sexually assault a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. We got copies of 10 letters of support calling for his release. 7 mention the LDS church.

News1 Comment

Last week, we here at Floodlit.org added former Mormon bishop Joseph Walker of Utah to our growing database of reports of sexual abuse in the Mormon church. Walker, 70, was the initial editor in 2008 of MormonTimes.com (see https://web.archive.org/web/20080225160640/http://mormontimes.com/contact.php), a publication of the church-owned Deseret News. In 2021, Deseret Book published a biography of then-apostle…

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Former Mormon bishop, “traditional values” columnist charged with child sexual exploitation

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Joseph Walker was a former Mormon bishop, stake presidency counselor and LDS Public Affairs employee in Utah; charged in 2025 with three third-degree felony counts related to child sexual exploitation; allegedly “engaged in several sexually explicit conversations within which he sought or attempted to seduce, lure, and entice [a 14-year-old girl] into engaging in multiple…

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400+ times Mormon officials allegedly sexually abused children or failed to report

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Full list: https://floodlit.org/failure-to-report/ Floodlit.org, an independent organization reporting on sexual abuse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon/LDS), has now surpassed 400 documented instances where bishops or branch/mission/stake presidents allegedly sexually abused children or failed to report child sexual abuse to law enforcement.   A Crisis Uncovered This is *not* a comprehensive…

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BREAKING: “There is no ‘sexual abuse’ file,” Mormon church risk manager declared in 2023 lawsuit

Breaking, News

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon church) has long positioned itself as a leader in handling abuse, with officials claiming its approach is the “gold standard” and that “no religious organization has done more.” But a startling discovery from a 2023 lawsuit challenges that narrative.   A System…

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Mormon-owned KSL omits church’s name from news on suspected child sexual abuse

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Today, KSL reported on the arrest of Ronald Charles Jones of West Jordan, Utah: https://www.ksl.com/article/51353482/elderly-west-jordan-man-arrested-accused-of-sexually-abusing-young-girl- The KSL article pulls information from a police probable cause affidavit, but doesn’t mention the name of the church of which Jones is a member – despite the affidavit itself stating he “is an influential member of his LDS ward…

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Jay Toombs released from prison after admittedly molesting at least 53 children

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On July 29, 2025, Jay Toombs was released from prison on parole, according to a person familiar with the case. Case report: https://floodlit.org/a/a360/ 2024 parole hearing: Toombs lives in Logan, Utah, according to the Utah state sex offender registry: https://www.icrimewatch.net/offenderdetails.php?OfndrID=707328&AgencyID=54438 Toombs admitted to molesting at least 53 victims, the source said. Toombs was a younger…

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Does the Mormon church consider child sexual abuse a “serious injury?”

Lawsuits, News

Yesterday, the Arizona Court of Appeals reinstated a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church, citing the church’s leadership handbook, which says prevention of “serious injury” is a justifiable reason for a bishop or stake president to “disclose confidential information without first seeking guidance.” Read the ruling: https://www.appeals2.az.gov/Decisions/CV20230293Memo.pdf From page 11 of the ruling: “Section…

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