11 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

      • George Aaron 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
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • Jose Arias was a Mormon church missionary in Palm Desert, California; accused of sexual abuse; civil suit filed against LDS church and Arias; judge awarded judgment by default for the plaintiff (victim) against Arias in 2017 in the amount of approximately $4.2 million; the LDS church was not found liable
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • Christian Bearnson was a Mormon church member in Los Angeles, California in the early 1990s; molested a 13-year-old girl; in 1993, the Mormon church was found liable for child sexual abuse by a jury in a civil lawsuit; the LDS church then settled with the two plaintiffs, reportedly for millions of dollars (US), and had the court records sealed
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • LDS church payment: $2,000,000
      • Charles Blome was a Mormon church member and US Army veteran in or near Houston or Beaumont, Texas; admitted to sexually molesting at least five boys; pleaded guilty to two counts of indecency with a child; sentenced to 15 years in prison; the LDS church was ordered to pay $4 million to a 13-year-old boy victim; Blome died in 2005
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • LDS church payment: $4,000,000
      • Kevin Curlew was an LDS church member in Methuen, Massachusetts; accused of sexually abusing a child in an LDS chapel; convicted and sentenced to prison; in 2008, a victim's mother filed a civil lawsuit against the the Mormon church, claiming the church allowed the accused to babysit children despite his prior convictions for child sexual abuse, and that LDS leaders failed to report her child's abuse to police
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • Steven Hammock 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
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • LDS church payment: $150,000
      • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
      • Jack Loholt was an LDS church member and Boy scout leader in Kent, Washington; accused of sexual abuse in the 1970s; court records show that two Mormon bishops knew about the abuse allegations but did not tell police; the Mormon church was court-ordered in 2006 to pay $87,500 to one victim after it settled with three others for undisclosed sums
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • LDS church payment: $87,500
      • David Phipps/Verity was an LDS church member and dentist in Sacramento, California; pleaded no contest in 1987 to two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery involving two of his patients; In 1994, also pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery; served time in jail and had dental license revoked
      • Peter Taylor was a Mormon church member in Washington; confessed to sexual abuse of his two underage stepdaughters; convicted; Mormon church lost a civil lawsuit and was court ordered to pay the victims $2.5 million; the church appealed and the amount was reduced to $1.2 million
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • LDS church payment: $1,200,000