Criminal Result: Admitted guilt

41 LDS sex abuse cases found

admitted guilt

Criminal case result: Admitted guilt

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- Paul Adams (1982 – 2017) was an LDS church member in Arizona; sexually abused two children for several years after confessing to his bishop; arrested and charged; died by suicide in 2017 while in custody awaiting trial; as of October 2025, a lawsuit against the church is ongoing
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- Alleged crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Arizona,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Died awaiting trial, Not convicted, Suicide,
- Civil case(s): Lawsuit v. LDS church, Ongoing,
- Alleged failure to report
- Joseph Bishop was a Mormon church member and president of the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center (MTC) in the 1980s; allegedly sexually abused multiple sister missionaries; not criminally charged because the statute of limitations had expired (in 1984, the legal deadline in Utah for filing a rape charge was four years); civil lawsuit was dismissed after an agreement by the plaintiff and the LDS church
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- Alleged crime: 1970s, 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Mission president, Missionary, Other leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted, Police investigation,
- Civil case(s): Dismissed, Dismissed with prejudice, Lawsuit v. LDS church,
- Alleged failure to report
- Allen Brinkerhoff (1929 – 2019) was a Mormon bishop and stake president and manager of an LDS stake welfare farm in Nevada; arrested in Nevada in 2007 and admitted to sexually abusing two children; was convicted and sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for battery with intent to commit sexual assault, and 12 to 32 months in prison for sexual abuse of a child; died in 2019
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- Convicted: 2007,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Other leader, Stake president,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison,
- Alleged failure to report
- Mark Cram (1956 – ) was a former Mormon bishop and stake presidency counselor, and city manager in Riverton, Utah; charged in 2006 with voyeurism; admitted climbing a 9-foot wall at a tanning salon to watch a 16-year-old girl undress; pleaded guilty; plea was held in abeyance; he completed the terms set by the court, charge was dismissed and case was expunged in 2008; as of February 2024, lives in Riverton, Utah
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- Alleged crime: 2000s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Church employee, Stake high council, Stake presidency counselor,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Expunged, Not convicted, Pleaded guilty,
- Alleged failure to report
- Daniel Cupyrna was a Mormon assistant stake clerk and stake technology specialist in Middlesbrough Ward, Billingham Stake, UK; accused of possession of child sexual abuse material; admitted to wrongdoing; convicted
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- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime country: England, United Kingdom,
- LDS positions: Other leader, Stake clerk,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted,
- Buckland Darrell (1979 – ) 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
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- Crime: 2010s, 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Washington,
- Convicted: 2024,
- LDS positions: Primary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Alleged failure to report
- Richard Dilley (1959 – ) was an LDS church member and scout leader in Burien, near Seattle, Washington; dishonorably discharged from the Navy in 1983 after admitting to abusing boys in a Scouting program in Athens, Greece; pleaded guilty in 1990 to one count of third degree child rape and five counts of child molestation for "repeated" offenses over two years of the scouts in his LDS troop; sentenced to 9 years in prison
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- Crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Washington,
- Crime country: Greece,
- LDS positions: Scout leader, Sunday school,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Joseph Dunlop (1983 – ) was a Mormon church member in South Jordan, Utah; accused of sexual abuse
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- LDS positions: Primary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Ongoing, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Alan Dunn (1941 – 2017) was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Venice, California (Los Angeles); accused in 1978 of child sexual abuse; confessed to the police
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- Alleged crime: 1970s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: California,
- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Police investigation, Unknown result,
- Alleged failure to report
- Gerald Elison (1930 – 2019) was an LDS church member and junior high school drama teacher in Orem, Utah; accused in 2014 in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy student in the early 1980s; died in 2019
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- LDS positions: Bishopric counselor, Primary, Stake high council,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil case(s): Dismissed,
- Samuel Faber was an LDS church member in Sandy, Utah; charged in 2022 of sexually assaulting a woman he met on an LDS dating app called Mutual; in 2024, admitted to sexually assaulting three women and pleaded guilty to amended first-degree felony charges of rape and forcible sodomy, and third-degree felony aggravated sexual assault and two counts of third-degree felony forcible sexual abuse
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- Crime: 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime county: UT - Salt Lake,
- Crime state: Utah,
- Convicted: 2024,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Pleaded guilty, Unknown result,
- John Fanning (1932 – 2012) was a Mormon branch president in Texas, bishop in Oklahoma and Boy Scout executive in several US states, including Utah; accused in 1986 in Utah of sexually abusing at least three boys, including during LDS-sponsored scouting activities; admitted guilt; convicted via plea agreement in 1986 or 1987; sentenced to 30 days in jail and spent approximately 18 months on probation; died in 2012
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- Crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Louisiana, Utah,
- Convicted: 1987,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Branch president, Missionary, Scout leader, Senior missionary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Jail, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
- Alleged failure to report
- David Farley (1958 – ) was a former doctor in West Linn, Oregon; accused of sexually abusing more than 200 patients over a span of many years, during some of which Farley was an LDS stake high council member; in 2024, the city of West Linn, Oregon released a report about the way its police department investigated Farley; in October 2025, a grand jury indicted him on 11 felony sexual assault charges
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- Alleged crime: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime city: OR - West Linn,
- Alleged crime county: OR - Clackamas,
- Alleged crime state: Oregon,
- LDS positions: Bishopric counselor, Primary, Stake high council, Sunday school,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Not convicted, Ongoing,
- Civil case(s): Ongoing,
- Alleged failure to report
- Kevin Garn (1955 – ) was a former Utah House majority leader and LDS bishop in Utah; admitted in 2010 to a nude encounter with a 15-year-old girl in a hot tub in 1985, when he was 28
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- Alleged crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime city: UT - Salt Lake City,
- Alleged crime county: UT - Salt Lake,
- Alleged crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Sunday school,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Alleged failure to report
- David Hamblin (1954 – ) 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
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- Alleged crime: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime city: UT - Provo,
- Alleged crime county: UT - Utah,
- Alleged crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Elders quorum,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Ongoing, Police investigation,
- Alleged failure to report
- Joseph Hastings (1987 – ) was a Mormon church member in Clevedon, UK; sentenced to prison for sending child pornography to an undercover police officer online in 2015; sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison, including a custodial term of eight years and eight months
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- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime country: England, United Kingdom,
- Convicted: 2015,
- LDS positions: Missionary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison,
- Elwood Haws (1951 – ) was an employee and vice president of an LDS church-owned trust company in Utah; charged in 2020 with 13 second degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (related to possession of child pornography); admitted that he viewed child pornography 3-4 times a week over a 3-4 year span; in 2021, pleaded guilty to three counts and was sentenced to 180 days in jail; in 2023, violated probation
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- Crime: 2010s, 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Utah,
- Convicted: 2021,
- LDS positions: Church employee,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Jail, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Violated parole/probation,
- Paul Jellum (1959 – ) was a Mormon scout leader in Logan, Utah in the 1980s; suspended by the BSA in 1987 after being accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old Boy Scout in his troop during a 1986 Scouting event at Camp Hunt near Bear Lake, Utah; in 1990, Jellum became a scoutmaster in a Nevada LDS ward despite his prior suspension; in 1991, Jellum admitted to the abuse
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- Alleged crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Nevada,
- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Police investigation, Unknown result,
- Alleged failure to report
- Bruce Jeppesen (1956 – ) was a Mormon elders quorum president when he sexually abused a child; sentenced to two concurrent terms of 15 years in the Utah State Prison
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- LDS positions: Elders quorum,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison,
- Melvin Johnson (1936 – ) was a Mormon seminary teacher and Brigham Young University (BYU) religion professor; accused by multiple victims of sexually abusing them when they were children; excommunicated and rebaptized; reportedly confessed to sexual abuse, but was not criminally charged; two victims filed lawsuits against him; one named the Mormon church as a defendant; it settled out of court
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- Alleged crime: 1960s, 1970s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime city: UT - Provo,
- Alleged crime county: UT - Utah,
- Alleged crime state: California, Utah,
- LDS positions: BYU, Church employee, Other leader, Seminary teacher, Stake high council,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil case(s): Lawsuit v. LDS church, Settlement, Unknown result,
- Alleged failure to report
- Larry Judd (1936 – ) was an LDS church member in Mesa, Arizona; accused of sexual abuse; admitted to molesting 12 girls over a period of about 20 years; some of the alleged abuse took place at church and at church-sponsored summer camps
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- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Unknown result,
- Alleged failure to report
- David Keller (1970 – ) 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
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- Alleged crime: 2000s, 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime county: UT - Cache,
- Alleged crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Stake presidency counselor, Sunday school, Temple worker,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Ongoing,
- Franklin Mathias was a Mormon church member and Boy scout leader in La Grande, Oregon; had a career as a schoolteacher; accused in 1987 of sexual abuse; sentenced in 1988 to four years in prison for molesting a child; he said that he had 242 victims over a 30-year period
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- Crime: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Oregon,
- LDS positions: High priest, Scout leader, Stake high council,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison,
- Civil case(s): Unknown result,
- Daphney Matthews (1970 – ) was a Mormon church member in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; accused of sexual abuse
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- LDS positions: Youth leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Unknown result,
- David McConkie (1978 – ) 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
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- Crime: 2000s, 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Colorado,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Missionary, Scout leader, Stake president, Youth leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
- Alleged failure to report
- Calvin McGee (2002 – ) was an LDS missionary in Virginia in 2022; accused of soliciting sexually explicit pictures and video from a person he believed to be an 11-year-old girl, and inviting her to meet in person; arrested in Boise, Idaho in July 2023 and accused of rape of a minor; pleaded guilty to two charges related to child sexual abuse; sentenced in May 2024 to three to 25 years in prison
- View report »
- Crime: 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Idaho, Virginia,
- Convicted: 2024,
- LDS positions: Missionary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Ongoing, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Alleged failure to report
- Bill McKay was an LDS church member and mayor of Kennewick, Washington; admitted in 2023 to police he paid for sexual services at multiple massage parlors in Kennewick; was not criminally charged
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- Alleged crime: 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Washington,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Shawn Mortensen (1965 – ) 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
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- Crime: 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: New Mexico,
- Convicted: 2022,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Other leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Gerald Mortimer (1943 – ) was an OB/GYN doctor in Idaho and former Mormon temple president and mission president in the Philippines; admitted in 2019 to secretly using his sperm to artificially inseminate multiple women; a civil suit against him was dismissed with prejudice in 2021, possibly because of a private settlement agreement
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- Alleged crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Idaho,
- LDS positions: Mission president, Missionary, Temple president,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil case(s): Dismissed with prejudice,
- Steven Murdock (1963 – ) was a Mormon stake high council member and former LDS bishop in Holladay, Salt Lake County, Utah; allegedly sexually harassed multiple women in his ward while he was their bishop (he was bishop from 2013 to 2017); in 2019, was caught taking photos of a young woman in a dressing room in Tennessee; pleaded guilty in November 2019; sentenced in 2019 to one year probation, 48 hours community service
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- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Tennessee,
- Convicted: 2019,
- LDS positions: Bishop, Stake high council,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Community service, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Probation, Released,
- Alleged failure to report
- 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
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- Crime: 1980s, 1990s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Arkansas, Texas,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison,
- Civil case(s): Lawsuit v. LDS church, Settlement,
- Alleged failure to report
- David O'Connor (1953 – ) was an LDS church member and high school wrestling coach in Tacoma, Washington; convicted of sexual abuse in 1977; once reportedly confessed his sexual abuse in an LDS sacrament meeting; in 2021, a victim sued the Mormon church
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- Crime: 1970s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Washington,
- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Unknown result,
- Civil case(s): Lawsuit v. LDS church, Unknown result,
- Alleged failure to report
- Patrick Oliphant (1992 – ) was a Mormon missionary from Carlsbad, New Mexico who was serving a mission in Michigan in 2013; reportedly turned himself in for sexual abuse of a child he was babysitting; charged with six counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and three counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor; convicted in 2015 of nine felony charges
- View report »
- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: New Mexico,
- Convicted: 2015,
- LDS positions: Missionary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Unknown result,
- Eric Olsen (1977 – ) was an LDS church member and schoolteacher in Bakersfield, California; admitted to Ontario, California police that he had sexually abused between 200 to 300 girls, with as many as 30 victims in Kern County; convicted in 2007 in California of 6 felony counts of child sexual abuse; sentenced to five years in prison; lifetime registered sex offender; as of 2023, lives in Brigham City, Utah
- View report »
- Convicted: 2007,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Prison, Registered sex offender,
- Ryan Pugh was a former Mormon missionary and BYU-Idaho student in Rexburg, Idaho; arrested and charged in 2024 with sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online
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- Crime: 2020s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Idaho,
- LDS positions: Missionary,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Ongoing, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Jason Smith (1970 – ) was an LDS church member in Indiana; in 2019, confessed to sexually abusing a child; pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2021 to 728 days of probation for battery against a child under 14 years old
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- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Indiana,
- Convicted: 2021,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Probation,
- 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
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- Crime: 1980s, 1990s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Washington,
- Convicted: 2001,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Pleaded guilty,
- Civil case(s): Judgment for plaintiff, Lawsuit v. LDS church, Settlement,
- Alleged failure to report
- Robert Tubbs (1952 – ) was an LDS scout leader in Slaterville, Weber County, Utah; admitted he told a Mormon bishop in the early 1970s he had molested multiple boys; Tubbs said the bishop kept the abuse secret; nearly 20 years passed and Tubbs molested others; in the 1990s, Tubbs pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges; sentenced to six years to life in prison; paroled in 2000; violated parole; released in 2008
- View report »
- Crime: 1990s,
- Places lived:
- Crime state: Utah,
- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Parole, Prison, Released, Violated parole/probation,
- Alleged failure to report
- Thomas Wallin (1999 – ) was a Mormon church member in South Jordan, Utah; admitted to sexually abusing a child within an LDS chapel; in 2022, sentenced to 18 years in prison
- View report »
- Crime: 2010s,
- Places lived:
- Crime county: UT - Salt Lake,
- Crime state: Utah,
- Convicted: 2022,
- LDS positions: Unknown position,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted,
- LaVar Withers (1936 – 2005) was a Mormon and physician in Rexburg, Idaho; accused of sexually abusing at least 133 women and children as young as 13 years old over a period of 30 or more years; admitted to sexual abuse; in 1996, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery; sentenced to 30 to 60 days in jail and two years probation; the Mormon church placed him on probation and took his temple recommend; died in 2005
- View report »
- Crime: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s,
- Places lived:
- Crime city: ID - Rexburg,
- Crime state: Idaho,
- LDS positions: Bishopric counselor, Stake high council,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Jail, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
- Alleged failure to report
- Jimmy Young (1966 – ) was a Mormon church member and scout volunteer in Texas; arrested for sexually abusing a scout in his troop
- View report »
- Alleged crime: 1980s,
- Places lived:
- Alleged crime state: Texas,
- LDS positions: Scout leader,
- Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Unknown result,

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