14 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • LDS position: Branch president
    • Mark Anderson was a Mormon church branch president and dentist in Woodland, California; accused by 27 former female patients of touching them inappropriately in office visits; found guilty in 2009 of 11 felony counts and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery for sexual abuse of several of his female patients; sentenced to six years in prison; required to register for life as a sex offender
    • Michael Antrobus was a former Mormon branch president (similar to a bishop) and bishop in Connersville, Indiana for 10 years (approximately 1974-84); convicted of child sexual abuse charges (9 counts, 6 victims) in Sacramento County, California in 2021-2022; sentenced to 8 years in San Quentin State Prison; died by suicide in prison in September 2023; allegedly had at least a dozen victims
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Paul Bryant was an HOA president and former Mormon primary teacher in Lehi, Utah; was a branch president during an LDS mission to Argentina in the 1980s; in 2016, pleaded guilty to three first-degree felony counts of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to prison; in 2023, pleaded not guilty to failure to register as sex offender; died by suicide in December 2024
    • Larry Clarke was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse
    • John Doe was a Mormon branch president in Mayfield, Kentucky; accused of child sexual 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 Fanning was a former Mormon bishop and scout leader in Utah; accused of sexual abuse in 1987 of a teenage boy during an overnight scouting activity; two victims later sued the Mormon church; died in 2012
    • Juan Flores Atenco was a Mormon branch president in West Valley City, Utah for five years, including in the early 2000s; accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl in his office and another room at an LDS church building; convicted in 2012 of misdemeanor forcible sexual abuse and unlawful detention; sentenced to zero to one year in jail; in March 2025, charged with rape and object rape (alleged crimes in 2002)
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Efrey Guzman was an LDS church member and branch president in Sandy, Utah; charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary, both first-degree felonies, and sexual abuse of a child and forcible sexual abuse, both second-degree felonies; acquitted
    • Orson Wright was a Mormon mission president in Sydney, Australia from 1978 to 1980; accused of grooming some of the sister missionaries in his care to be his polygamous wives; removed early from his mission assignment; LDS church leaders in Salt Lake City, Utah allegedly covered up the reasons for Wright's removal
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse