59 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • LDS position: Other leader
    • James Adams was a Mormon church member in Beckley, West Virginia; sentenced to prison in 1994 for sexually abusing multiple children; in 1996, a $750 million lawsuit was filed against the Mormon church alleging coverup; the suit was settled out of court in 2000
    • Michael Adamson was a Mormon church caretaker and organist in York, England; abused at least four children as young as seven years old; convicted; sentenced to prison in England in 2008 for child sexual abuse
    • 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
    • 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
    • Alan Bassett was a Mormon church member and air traffic controller in Fruit Heights, Utah; accused in a 2019 civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse (dismissed without prejudice); charged in June 2024 with child sexual abuse; over 80 victims came forward; admitted to molesting many neighbor girls; tried to get his case dismissed due to an unsigned 1989 agreement with a deputy Davis County attorney
    • 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
    • Herman Blom was a Mormon church member in the Netherlands and in Pleasant Grove, Utah; allegedly sexually abused a child in 2018; died in 2023
    • Kevin Bowman was an LDS first counselor in a ward bishopric and a restaurant owner in Spanish Fork, Utah; was an LDS missionary in Taiwan 1999-2001; accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl who worked in his restaurant; arrested in July 2023; in June 2024, found guilty by a jury of forcible sexual abuse (second-degree felony) and lewdness (class B misdemeanor); sentencing set for July 29, 2024
    • Allen Brinkerhoff 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • Kevin Curlew was an LDS church member in Methuen, Massachusetts; accused of sexually abusing a child in an LDS chapel; convicted and sentenced to prison; in 2008, a victim's mother filed a civil lawsuit against the the Mormon church, claiming the church allowed the accused to babysit children despite his prior convictions for child sexual abuse, and that LDS leaders failed to report her child's abuse to police
    • Michael Davis was an LDS church member in Utah and later an elders quorum president in Minnesota; pleaded guilty in 2003 in Utah to misdemeanor lewdness involving a child; pleaded guilty in Utah in 2006 to felony forcible sexual abuse; arrested in 2019 in Minnesota; sentenced in 2022 to 30 years in prison for sexual abuse of a juvenile under his care; in March 2024, appealed his 2022 Minnesota conviction
    • John Doe was an LDS stake mission president; accused by Mormon leader Vaughn Featherstone in 1975 of child sexual abuse of "many, many Aaronic Priesthood boys" in Doe's stake
    • John Doe was an LDS church member in Queensland, Australia; accused of sexual abuse
    • Oliver Eames was an LDS church member, sixth grade teacher and Mormon Tabernacle Choir singer in Farmington, Utah; admitted to trying to fondle several children he had been hired to tutor; pleaded guilty in 1988 to two felony counts of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child; local police had documented 52 alleged child sexual abuse incidents involving him
    • Frederick Edvalson was a Mormon in Utah and Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland; convicted 3 times of sexual abuse in Maryland in the 1980s; third conviction: while on probation, groomed a 10-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her in a room inside a Mormon chapel on multiple occasions from 1983 to 1984; reportedly told her he was giving her "special religious training;" sentenced to 8 years in prison
    • Gary Erickson was an LDS church member, boy scout leader and Mesquite, Nevada police detective; was arrested in 2018; in 2019, pleaded guilty in Utah to a charge of crossing state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct
    • Neil Erickson was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse
    • 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
    • Cory Gaylor was an school teacher and LDS deacons quorum adviser in Idaho; arrested and charged with lewd conduct and enticing a child via the Internet; in July 2023, pleaded guilty; sentenced in September 2023 to 60 years in prison, with 13 years fixed before being eligible for parole
    • Ryan Hall was a former Mormon bishopric member and veteran sheriff's department detective in Maryland; in 2024, arrested and charged with several sex crimes related to child sexual abuse
    • Melvin Hansen was a Mormon church member, school music teacher and former Tabernacle Choir member in Utah; convicted in 2021 in Utah of first degree felony attempted aggravated child sexual abuse; also accused of sexual abuse in Arizona
    • 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
    • Brandon Hernandez was an LDS church member in Tempe, Arizona; accused of sexually abusing a victim inside a Mormon church; convicted of four fourth degree felony counts of abuse of a child or vulnerable adult
    • Craig Housley was an LDS church member in Utah; found guilty in 2018 of child sexual exploitation; sentenced to 210 days in state prison and five years of probation
    • Kenneth Jenks was an LDS church member in California (Milpitas Ward); was a ward executive secretary and ward librarian; charged with sexual abuse; convicted; served 14 years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor under duress; three victims sued the LDS church, claiming it knew about Jenks's abuse but allowed him to work with children
    • Melvin Johnson 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
    • Larry Johnson was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse
    • Timothy Kimball was an LDS church member in San Antonio, Texas; charged in 2022 with child sexual abuse; died by suicide in June 2023 while awaiting indictment
    • George Lee was a Mormon general authority in Utah; member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1975 to 1989; in 1994, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a child, a third-degree felony; registered sex offender; died in 2010
    • Melvin MacNeil was a Mormon church member in Ontario, Canada; accused of sexual abuse
    • Bruce McAskill was a Mormon church ward clerk in Jackson, Michigan; before becoming ward clerk, was convicted of rape; after becoming ward clerk, in 1994, was found guilty by a judge of kissing and fondling an 8-year-old boy whom he was babysitting; McAskill had met the boy's mother at church; a police officer said McAskill told him 'he didn't see any problem' with an adult sleeping naked with a child
    • Chester Meek was a Mormon bishop in Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada from 1990 to 1995; while bishop, he allegedly sexually sexual assaulted multiple female church members; at least one alleged incident of abuse occurred in the bishop's office inside an LDS church
    • Russell Millsaps was an LDS church member and retired police sergeant in Arizona; sentenced in 2016 to 323 years in prison for child sexual exploitation
    • Joseph Montanino was an LDS church member and scout leader in Massachusetts; had a career as a police officer; convicted in 1982 of sexual abuse
    • Shawn Mortensen 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
    • Jonathon Moser was an LDS church member and middle school teacher in Rawlins, Wyoming; found guilty of sexually abusing two minor girls; sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison; a source told FLOODLIT that North Dakota LDS church leaders knew about the abuse but "did nothing"
    • Eustacio Munioz was an LDS ward religious and missionary class leader in the Brownsville, Texas area; in 2011, was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy; the victim, as an adult, filed a lawsuit against the LDS church and won
    • Spencer Palmer was a Mormon temple endowment ceremony actor, BYU professor, mission president, temple president, LDS church area authority; lived in Utah; posthumously accused of child sexual abuse by his grandson
    • Ronald Phelps was an LDS bishop and stake executive secretary, and attorney, in Oklahoma; arrested for indecent exposure before becoming an LDS bishop; accused of child sexual abuse; Mormon church leaders allegedly covered up the abuse
    • Chesley Pierson was an LDS bishop, stake presidency counselor and stake patriarch in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; accused of sexually abusing multiple young men
    • Mark Porter was a Mormon church member and former stake presidency member in Utah; accused of sexual abuse in 2022 after allegedly groping women in a Logan grocery store; pleaded guilty in December 2022
    • Michael Pratt was an LDS seminary principal in Utah; arrested in 2009; convicted and sentenced in 2010 for the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old seminary student
    • Carl Pratt was a Mormon bishop in San Manuel, Arizona; allegedly sexually abused a boy in his ward, in the bishop's office at an LDS chapel; died in 2006
    • Douglas Richens was former international director of the Mormon church's disability services and prison ministry; worked for the LDS church for 23 years; retired, became a professional life coach in Tooele, Utah; charged with sodomy on a child and aggravated sexual abuse; court ordered him held without bail as of Mar. 21, 2025
    • Charles Richmond was an LDS church member and LDS addiction recovery specialist in Hutchinson, Kansas; convicted of aggravated indecent liberties w child; Offender =>18 fondle child <14; in prison in Kansas as of 2024
    • 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
    • Vernon Sanford was an LDS church member in San Diego, California; died in 2000; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse, along with his son, Vernon Sanford Jr; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church; the alleged abuse occurred between 1961 and 1970; the Sanfords were the plaintiff's LDS home teachers
    • Orin Searle was an LDS church member in Ogden, Utah; accused of sexual abuse in 2013 but was deemed incompetent to stand trial; a victim said that Searle's predatory behavior began as early as the late 1950s, and that several family members, and multiple members of the LDS 44th Ward (Mount Ogden Stake), knew that Searle was a child molester but did nothing to stop him; died in 2014
    • Mark Sherry was an LDS ward mission leader and church building supervisor in Kansas City, Missouri; found guilty in 2000 of Sexual Misconduct - 2nd Degree
    • Philander Smartt was a Mormon mission president in Puerto Rico; accused of sexually manipulating some of his sister missionaries; in 2014, the LDS church sent him home and called his behavior "immoral and sinful," but no criminal charges or civil lawsuits resulted
    • Paul Spencer was a Mormon church temple prep instructor and mission leader in Riverton, Salt Lake County, Utah; charged in December 2024 with multiple felonies related to arranging to meet a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl for sexual assault in Lehi, Utah
    • Arthur Stout was a Mormon church member in Littlerock, California; in 2024, a civil lawsuit said he sexually assaulted a girl "on a weekly basis" from 1991 to 1997, starting when she was 5 years old; some of the alleged abuse took place in an LDS church building
    • Sean Sund was an LDS primary teacher in Utah; arrested in 2018 and accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl from his LDS ward during sleepovers at his home on multiple occasions; pleaded guilty in 2022 to second-degree felony sex abuse of a child and was sentenced to 361 days in jail; registered sex offender for life
    • Jim UNKNOWN was a Mormon church member and Melchizedek priesthood holder in Lancaster, California; a 2024 civil lawsuit said he took part with a Mormon bishop and another Melchizedek priesthood holder in sexually assaulting an underage boy inside an LDS church building on a weekly basis from 2001 to 2003, starting when the victim was 15 years old
    • Keith Vallejo was a Mormon bishop in Utah; accused of sexually abusing and raping two underage girls; in 2017, was found guilty in a jury trial of ten counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and one count of first-degree felony object rape; sentenced to five years to life in prison
    • Mark Webster was a branch president in New Mexico; accused of rape in a civil lawsuit
    • Timothy Wright was a Mormon church member in Santa Clara, California; convicted in 1994 of one or more felonies related to child sexual abuse; a 1994 civil lawsuit against the Mormon church said he molested a boy between 1989 and 1992, when the boy was 14 to 17 years old (actions for which he was convicted); the suit was dismissed in 1995 for failure to appear by the plaintiff's attorneys

 

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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.

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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.