16 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

      • Eric Avant was a Mormon cub scout leader in Norfolk, Virginia; convicted in 1979 of sodomizing an 11-year-old; Mormon leaders allegedly knew of his sexual attraction to young boys but did not check police records; convicted in 1988 of 14 counts of aggravated sexual battery and sentenced to 26 years in prison for molesting nine boys; had as many as 41 alleged victims; the church settled a lawsuit in 1992
      • Alleged coverup
      • LDS church payment: $2,000,000
      • Thomas Evans-Southall was an LDS bishop in Charlottesville, Virginia; originally from England; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in 2018 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of two years in prison
      • Frank Ferrara was a Mormon church member and doctor in Northern Virginia; convicted in 1997 of four counts of forcible sodomy
      • Christopher Fleming was an LDS church member in Chesapeake, Virginia; found guilty of 10 counts of various sexual abuse to a minor; currently incarcerated in Virginia
      • Alleged coverup
      • Shawn Frost was an LDS church member in Virginia; arrested in 2022 and charged with child sexual abuse; in 2023, sued in $10.3 million lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse of three more victims; he was the victim's home teacher / ministering brother
      • Jason Gagnon was a Mormon church member who allegedly perpetrated sex crimes in Colorado, Oregon and Virginia
      • Shawn Gooden was an LDS bishop in Lebanon, Pennsylvania from 2016-2020; arrested in 2022 and charged with sexual abuse of two children in Virginia from 1997-2000; pleaded guilty in July 2023 in Virginia to four felony counts; sentenced in November 2023 in Virginia to prison time and supervised probation on release; charged in July 2023 in Pennsylvania with more child sex abuse charges
      • Alleged coverup
      • 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
      • Alleged coverup
      • LDS church payment: $300,000
      • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
      • William Hanson was a Mormon youth leader in several US states; sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse; the Mormon church settled a civil lawsuit in which the victim accused it of failing to protect him
      • Alleged coverup
      • LDS church payment: Undisclosed amount
      • Cecil Jacobson was a Mormon church member and fertility doctor in Virginia; found guilty of secretly using his own sperm to artificially inseminate patients
      • Jan Manley was a Mormon church member in Virginia; arrested in 2018 on suspicion of various offenses related to child sexual abuse; allegedly abused multiple children
      • 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 April 2025, proposed a plea deal to avoid prison
      • Alleged coverup
      • Calvin McGee 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
      • Alleged coverup
      • Adam Phipps was an LDS church member in Manassas, Virginia; accused of taking indecent liberties with children; charged and convicted in 1993; registered sex offender
      • James Sirles was a Mormon church member in Chesterfield, Virginia; convicted of possession of child pornography and production and distribution of child pornography
      • Charles Tyhurst was a former LDS bishop and optometrist in southwest Virginia; accused of sexual abuse; convicted; 2020: sentenced in Virginia to prison for five years for aggravated sexual battery of a minor; 2024: registered sex offender; lives in Richmond, Virginia

    View the Mormon Sexual Abuse Map

    International map of locations where active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perpetrated or allegedly perpetrated sexual abuse or other sex crimes, or where LDS leaders failed or allegedly failed to help abuse survivors.

    Browse the Mormon Sexual Abuse Database

    FLOODLIT.org has a free public database of hundreds of reports about people who committed or allegedly committed sex crimes, including sexual abuse, while they were active Mormon church members. You can browse the entire database by LDS church position, number of victims, places where crimes took place, criminal/civil case results, and other criteria.