41 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • Criminal case result: Released
    • Terry Allen was an LDS church member in California; in 1987, was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to six years in prison; was assigned to multiple trusted church positions, including Sunday school president, despite the Mormon church being aware that he had raped a teenager; LDS leaders were accused of hiding his abuse from local church members; as of 2024, lives in Grapevine, Texas
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • John Baca was an LDS church member in California; found guilty of LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH A CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS OF AGE
    • Thomas Black was an LDS church member and BYU greenhouse manager in Provo, Utah; accused of sexual abuse; sentenced to prison in Utah in 2003 for rape
    • Wyman Blankenship was a Mormon church member; scout leader, pleaded guilty to molesting boys
    • Jonathan Carver was a Mormon church member and returned missionary in Utah; accused of sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl at a counseling center where he worked; pleaded guilty and sentenced in 2009 to prison; as of 2023, lives in Clearfield, Utah
    • John Doe was a Mormon church member in Lake Elsinore, California; arrested in 1997; pleaded guilty to committing lewd acts with a child under age 14; spent three years in state prison; in December 2022, the LDS church paid $995,000 to settle its part of a related civil lawsuit wherein a jury awarded the victim $2.28 billion
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $995,000
    • James Duffin was an LDS church member in California; accused of child sexual abuse; convicted in 2006; incarcerated 2006 to 2011; allegedly groomed female students ages 7-10 with attention and candy and then forcing sexual contact in his classroom after school
    • Rowan Ellsworth was an LDS church member and schoolteacher in Arizona; allegedly molested a 14-year-old girl at an LDS girls camp in mid-1990; the abuse was reported to a bishop Burgess, who allegedly failed to report to police, but instead encouraged the victim to forgive; sentenced to prison in 1999 for two counts of child sexual abuse; released in 2007
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • Matthew Faerber was an LDS church member and high school choir director in Murray, Utah; pleaded guilty in 1990 or 1991 to two counts of attempted sexual abuse of a child; sentenced in February 1991 to six months in jail (two of those months under house arrest) followed by three years of supervised release
    • Thomas Forrest was an LDS church member in Mississippi; accused of sexual abuse; convicted
    • Thomas Gibby was an LDS church member and dentist in Salt Lake County, Utah; sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy; pleaded guilty to two felony counts: one second-degree felony charge of sex abuse of a child, and one third-degree charge of attempted sex abuse of a child
    • Kenneth Good was a Mormon church member in Georgia; accused of molesting 4 underage girls; pleaded guilty of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 1991 to 8 years in prison; released on parole in December 1993; as of 2023, lives in Taylorsville Utah
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • Craig Harward was a Mormon ward executive secretary and former elementary "teacher of the year" in Santa Clara County, California; accused of sexual abuse of at least 10 children; pleaded guilty to charges related to sexual abuse of four children over a six-year period; sentenced to 14 years in prison; in 2024, a lawsuit said the LDS church failed to report abuse; as of 2024, lives in St. George, Utah
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Jeffrey Head was an LDS bishop in Utah; committed sex crimes while serving as a Mormon bishop; in 2019, a jury found him guilty of attempted forcible sexual abuse, two counts of lewdness and sexual battery; sentenced to four months in jail and four years of probation
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • James Hogan was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Oregon; in 1989, was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse; released in 1994; in 2011, a victim filed a civil lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, seeking $5.2 million; the Mormon church settled with two victims for $800,000 and $75,000
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $875,000
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Erik Hughes was a Mormon bishop in Mapleton, Utah and a Mormon church senior product manager when he sexually abused two underage children in his LDS ward dozens of times; was sentenced to prison in 2017; released in 2023; as of 2024, registered sex offender living in Utah
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Hayden Hunter was a Mormon missionary in California; he was from Pleasant Grove, Utah; arrested in 2020 for distribution of child sexual abuse material (child pornography) while on his mission; convicted of possession of CSAM in 2021
    • Ronald Jenkins was a Mormon scout leader, bishopric counselor and stake high council member in Idaho; worked as a high school teacher; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in 1996 of 10 counts of lewd conduct with a minor; sentenced to 17 years in prison; registered sex offender
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Allen Johnson was an LDS church member in Utah; drove from Utah to Idaho to meet up with a person he believed was a 15-year-old girl for sex; sentenced in 2015 to eight years in prison; as of March 2024, is a registered sex offender living in Provo, Utah
    • Les Johnson was a Mormon church member in northern Utah; found guilty of child sexual abuse; was granted parole in 1984 in Utah after serving 7 months of a 0-5 year prison sentence; as of 2023, lives in Bountiful, Utah
    • Kevin Kirkland was a Mormon seminary teacher and school teacher in the Redlands, California area; accused of sexual abuse; pleaded guilty in 2016 to molesting four female students from May 2015 to May 2016; sentenced to two years in jail; released in June 2017
    • Robert Larsen was an LDS church member in Salt Lake City, Utah; convicted of LEWDNESS INVOLVING A CHILD in 1993, and SEX ABUSE CHILD in 1998, as well as POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY in 2009
    • Michael McClellan was an LDS church member in Las Vegas, Nevada; arrested; convicted of attempted lewdness with a minor; sentenced to prison; as of 2024, lives in Cottonwood, Arizona
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • Aaron Montoya was a Mormon children's Primary teacher and law enforcement officer in Utah; found guilty in 2005 of sexually abusing children during LDS church meetings and at his home; later pleaded guilty in another case; in all, at least nine victims came forward; sentenced to prison in 2005; as of March 2025, is out of prison on parole and lives in Woods Cross, Utah as a registered sex offender
    • Steven Murdock 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • David Novak was an LDS Social Services counselor in Utah who worked for 12 years with child sexual abuse victims; convicted in 1999 of sexually abusing a girl; released from jail after serving about 40 days
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Jeff Ranstrom was an LDS church member, elders quorum president and high school basketball coach in Idaho; accused in 2019 of sexually abusing a student; pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2020 to 4 to 15 years in prison; as of December 2023, was out on parole living in Eagle, Idaho as a registered sex offender
    • Chance Ray was a Mormon church member and scout leader in the Mesa, Arizona area; convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to prison in Arizona; spent approximately 14 years in prison; released in July 2020
    • Keith Salmon was an LDS church member in Tennessee; found guilty of distributing CSAM
    • Richard Sampson was a Mormon bishop, stake high council member and doctor in Provo, Utah; was director of medical affairs for the LDS Missionary Training Center; allegedly sexually abused at least seven children; convicted and sentenced in 2014 to one to 15 years in prison for child sexual abuse; as of 2024, was out on parole living in Holladay, Utah
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Timothy Shoemaker was a Mormon church member in Newnan, Georgia; accused of sexual abuse; convicted; as of 2024, lives in Newnan, Georgia as a registered sex offender
    • Stewart Singley was an LDS church member in Ohio; convicted in 1975 of child molestation that occurred in 1974; in 1997, convicted and sentenced to one year in jail or prison; as of 2024, is a registered sex offender; lives in East Waterford, Pennsylvania
    • Terry Stidd Terry Alan Stidd was an LDS church member in Kearns, Utah; in 1998, pleaded guilty to rape in the first degree and sodomy in the first degree and was sentenced to 10 years in prison; as of 2024, is out on parole and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah
    • Thomas Thompson was an LDS church member in Oregon, California and Arkansas; convicted of sex crimes in Oregon in about 2002; as of 2024, was a registered sex offender living in Yellville, Arkansas
    • Robert Tubbs 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Thomas Waitman was an LDS church member in Cupertino, California; convicted of felony child sexual abuse in 1995 in California; as of 2023, registered sex offender living in Redmond, Washington
    • Scott Zaugg was allegedly a Mormon church member in Utah; was raised in the Mormon church; convicted in 2000 of second-degree felony sex abuse of a child; was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison; as of 2025, was a registered sex offender living in Roy, Utah