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Donate »10 Mormon sexual abuse cases found
Joseph Bishop
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- 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 coverup- Criminal: Police investigation,
- Civil: Dismissed, Dismissed with prejudice, Lawsuit v. LDS church,
- Positions: Mission president, Missionary, Other leader,
- Alleged crime: 1970s, 1980s, in Utah,
- Crime scenes: LDS building,
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George Lee
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- was a former LDS general authority; pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a child, a third-degree felony.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: General authority, Mission president, Other leader,
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Richard Miles
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- was an LDS church member in Bountiful, Utah; accused of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit; case was dismissed with prejudice in 2020.
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- Positions: Mission president,
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Gerald Mortimer
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- 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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- Criminal: Admitted guilt, Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: Dismissed with prejudice,
- Positions: Mission president, Missionary, Temple president,
- Alleged crime: 1980s,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's workplace,
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Spencer Palmer
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- was a Mormon temple endowment ceremony actor, BYU professor, mission president, temple president, LDS church area authority; posthumously accused of child sexual abuse by his grandson.
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- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, BYU, Mission president, Missionary, Other leader, Sunday school, Temple president,
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Byron Poelman
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- was a bishop and stake president in Utah and partner in a law firm that represented the LDS church; arrested in 1994 for soliciting a prostitute; pleaded guilty to a class B misdemeanor charge of patronizing a prostitute.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Mission president, Missionary, Stake high council, Stake president, Sunday school,
- Crime: 1990s, in Salt Lake County (Utah), Utah,
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Lowell Robison
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- was a Mormon mission president in the Mexico Leon mission (1995-1998); accused in 2018 of sexual abuse of multiple people; two months later, died by suicide.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Elders quorum, Mission president, Missionary, Scout leader, Stake high council, Stake presidency counselor, Stake president, Sunday school, Youth leader,
- Alleged crime: 1980s, 1990s, in Mexico,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
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Ramiro Saenz
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- was an LDS mission president and Temple president in Bolivia; accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls.
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- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, Mission president, Stake high council, Stake president, Temple president,
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Philander Smartt
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- was a Mormon mission president in Puerto Rico; accused of sexually manipulating some of his sister missionaries; LDS church sent him home and called his behavior "immoral and sinful," but no criminal charges or civil lawsuits resulted.
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- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Mission president, Other leader, Stake president,
- Alleged crime: 2010s, in Puerto Rico,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
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Orson Wright
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- 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.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Branch president, Mission president, Missionary, Stake high council, Temple worker,
- Alleged crime: 1970s, 1980s, in Australia,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
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