35 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • Crime scene: Victim's home
    • 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
    • Robert Berchtold was a Mormon church member in Idaho; sexually abused a child; in 1986, was found guilty of rape of a child and spent one year in jail
    • Raphael Caccioppoli was a Mormon Sunday school teacher, lawyer and Justice Ministry judicial officer in New Zealand; confessed sex crime behavior to a Mormon bishop in 1998; LDS leaders did not tell police or local parents of children he was left alone to supervise; turned himself in to police in 2007; sentenced to five years in jail for child sexual abuse and animal sex abuse (bestiality)
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Mark Chapman was an LDS church member, church janitor and scout leader in Michigan; served 9 years in prison in New York for charges of engaging in criminal sexual conduct with a person below the age of 17; sentenced to prison in 2022 in Michigan for sexually assaulting two children; some of the abuse took place at an LDS chapel
    • Stephen Coleman was an LDS church member and analyst in the Utah state Office of Planning and Budget; accused of sexual abuse in 2011; convicted and sentenced to prison; as of 2016, was serving two sentences of 15 years to life in prison in Utah
    • Richard Cook was a Mormon church member and former LDS nursery leader in Boise, Idaho; arrested in 2020 on suspicion of sexually abusing young boys
    • Buckland Darrell was a former LDS Primary teacher in Redmond, Washington; accused of molesting young boys in sacrament meeting and at their homes; charged with first-degree felony child molestation in 2022-23 (5 victims); admitted to sexually abusing around 6 to 8 boys; pleaded guilty; sentenced in 2024 to at least 8 years in prison; faced two additional counts in March 2025 after two more victims came forward
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Carlos Escalante was an LDS branch president in San Nicolas, Argentina; sexually abused his stepdaughter for 5 years, including while branch president; the victim asked local LDS leaders for support, but allegedly received none; she was punished by the church for "refusing to forgive" and for "failing to comply with worthiness standards;" Escalante was sentenced in 2018 to 14 years in prison
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • John Goodrich was a former Mormon bishop and dentist in Idaho; accused of child sexual abuse and of having nonconsensual sex with a woman he admitting to drugging; given a withheld judgement; in December 2023, the AP reported that the Mormon church had offered $300,000 to a victim and her mother to not use her story to sue the church, and to keep the NDA secret; arrested in Virginia in March 2024
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $300,000
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Gene Guinn was an LDS church member in the Dallas Seventh Ward, Texas; in 2000, found guilty by a jury of indecency with a child and sentenced to 68 years in prison; the victim was 10 years old at the time of the crime; Mormon officials allegedly knew about the abuse but failed to report to police
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • David Hamblin was a Mormon church member and former elders quorum president in Utah; arrested in 2022 and charged with child sexual abuse in three separate cases; investigated along with ex-wife Roselle Stevenson (arrested in 2023) for alleged ritualistic sexual abuse; in 2025, a court dismissed one case with prejudice after "discovery issues;" one case remained as of March 2025
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Christopher Jensen was a Mormon church member in Utah and West Virginia; sentenced to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two children; local LDS church coverup alleged; LDS church settled civil lawsuit mid-trial in 2018 for $32 million, also spending over $27 million on legal fees; FLOODLIT.org discovered the settlement details in 2025 and made them public for the first time
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $32,000,000
    • David Keller was a Mormon temple worker, Sunday school teacher and former stake presidency member in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah; admitted in May 2024 to child sexual abuse and was charged with seven first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child
    • Timothy Kimball was an LDS church member in San Antonio, Texas; charged in 2022 with child sexual abuse; died by suicide in June 2023 while awaiting indictment
    • James Larsen was a Mormon church member in Magna, Utah; accused of putting cameras in LDS church bathrooms as well as a private rental; pleaded guilty; sentenced in 2018 to prison
    • Robert Longman was a Mormon missionary in Corpus Christi, Texas; molested a three-year old in a bedroom while two other missionaries talked with the mother; pleaded no contest to charges filed in May 1989 of indecency with a child; sentenced to eight years probation, a $1,000 fine, and required to pay $400 in court costs
    • Timothy McCleve was a former Mormon bishop in Harrisville, Utah when he was charged with sexually abusing three children; some of the abuse took place while he was bishop; sentenced in 2008 to up to 30 years in prison for child sexual abuse; in 2024, charged in Utah with threatening a witness in a parole violation investigation
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • David McConkie was a Mormon bishop (approximately 2013-16), stake president (2016-21) and deputy district attorney in Colorado; paternal grandson of Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie; arrested in 2023 and charged with felony sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust; allegedly confessed child sexual assault to a Mormon church leader in 2008; in July 2025, sentenced to five years probation
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Chester Meek was a Mormon bishop in Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada from 1990 to 1995; while bishop, he allegedly sexually sexual assaulted multiple female church members; at least one alleged incident of abuse occurred in the bishop's office inside an LDS church
    • LDS church payment: Undisclosed amount
    • John Midgett was a Mormon Sunday school teacher in the San Diego area, California; also was a Navy petty officer first class; accused of 43 felony counts of child molestation for allegedly sexually abusing eight girls, ages 5 to 10, in his Sunday school class; pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison; as of 2024, lives in Bountiful, Utah as a registered sex offender
    • Shawn Mortensen was a former Mormon bishop and stake presidency member in Albuquerque, New Mexico; in February 2021, admitted to police that he had sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in January 2021; convicted of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2022 to prison in New Mexico
    • Matthew Nash was a former Mormon missionary from Utah who served a mission in North Carolina in 1999; accused in 2001 of sexually molesting 11 girls while on his mission; pleaded guilty to charges of child sexual abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Jason Pedersen was an LDS church member in Heber City, Utah; convicted guilty of first-degree felony attempted aggravated sex abuse of a child; as of April 2024, lives in Riverton, Utah as a registered sex offender and is an LDS elders quorum president
    • Church discipline: No action,
    • Rene Rodriguez was a Mormon elders quorum presidency member and sheriff in Shoshone, Lincoln County, Idaho; accused in 2019 of child sexual abuse that allegedly took place from 2005 to 2014; faced criminal charges in multiple Idaho counties; in one, was acquitted by a jury; in another, was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 14 to 28 years in prison
    • Jeremy Rose was a Mormon church member in Tremonton, Utah; accused and charged with 16 charges in Box Elder, County; case was transferred to Ogden, Utah courts
    • 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Todd Summers was an LDS church member and videographer for local children's events in Costa Mesa, California; accused of child sexual abuse that allegedly took place in a Mormon chapel and other locations; a 2009 civil suit against him ended with a $100,000 settlement payment by the Mormon church to the plaintiff
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $100,000
    • Karey Zimmerman was a Mormon church member in Utah and Nevada; in 2025, was accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse that allegedly took place in Nevada and Utah; the Mormon church was also named as a defendant; the lawsuit said a Utah bishop failed to report abuse allegations to police
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse