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Donate »50 Mormon sexual abuse cases
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James F. Adams
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Alleged coverup- was an elder in the LDS church in Beckley, West Virginia; sentenced to prison for sexually abusing multiple children.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Settlement,
- Victims: Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Victim's home,
- Crime: 1980s, in West Virginia,
- Convicted: 1990s,
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LDS church payment: Yes (undisclosed amount)
- Case report »
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Mark Kevin Anderson
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- 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 California state prison; required to register for life as a sex offender.
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison, Registered sex offender,
- Victims: 10 or more victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 2000s, in California,
- Convicted: 2000s, 2009,
- Case report »
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Joseph Layton 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.
- Criminal: Police investigation,
- Civil: Civil case dismissed, Civil case dismissed with prejudice, lawsuit against LDS church,
- Victims: Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building,
- Alleged crime: 1970s, 1980s, in Utah,
- Case report »
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Herman Blom
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- was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse.
- Case report »
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Kevin Gerald Bowman
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Found guilty, Jury trial,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's workplace, Victim's workplace,
- Case report »
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Allen J Brinkerhoff
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- was a Mormon bishop and stake president and manager of an LDS stake welfare farm in Nevada; in 2007, found guilty of child sexual abuse and sentenced.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Convicted: 2000s, 2007,
- Case report »
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Paul J Bryant
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Jail, Ongoing, Prison, Probation, Registered sex offender,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2016,
- Case report »
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Daniel Cupyrna
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- 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.
- Criminal: Admitted guilt, Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: Multiple victims, Unknown number of victims,
- Crime scenes: Online,
- Crime: 2010s, in England, United Kingdom,
- Case report »
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Kevin F Curlew
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- Alleged coverup
- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Civil: Civil judgment in favor of plaintiff, Claims against LDS church dismissed, Unknown result,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building,
- Crime: 2000s, in Maine, Massachusetts,
- Convicted: 2000s, 2006,
- Case report »
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Michael Adam Davis
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- Alleged coverup
- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 2000s, 2010s, in Minnesota, Utah,
- Convicted: 2000s, 2003, 2006, 2020s, 2022,
- Case report »
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John Doe
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- Alleged coverup
- was an LDS church member; accused of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: Failed attempt to sue LDS church,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Alleged crime: 1980s, in Australia,
- Case report »
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Oliver Dean Eames
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 10 or more victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Crime: 1980s, in Utah,
- Convicted: 1980s,
- Case report »
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Frederick Merlin Edvalson
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- Alleged coverup
- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Ongoing civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building,
- Case report »
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Gary Edward Erickson
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- was an LDS church member, boy scout leader and Mesquite, Nevada police detective; was arrested in 2018, pleaded guilty to a charge of crossing state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct; convicted in Utah.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2019,
- Case report »
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Neil Louis Erickson
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- was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Unknown result,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Case report »
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Shawn Noble Frost
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- 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.
- Criminal: Ongoing,
- Civil: Settlement,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Recreational trip/outing,
- Case report »
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Cory Richard Gaylor
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- was an Idaho school teacher and LDS deacons quorum adviser; 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Plea agreement, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Victims: Unknown number of victims,
- Crime: 2010s, 2020s, in Idaho,
- Convicted: 2020s, 2023,
- Case report »
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Ryan Christopher Hall
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- 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.
- Criminal: Ongoing,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: Multiple victims, Unknown number of victims,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's home,
- Alleged crime: 2010s, 2020s, in Maryland,
- Case report »
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Melvin Eugene Hansen
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Police investigation,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Crime: 2000s, 2010s, in Salt Lake County (Utah), Utah,
- Convicted: 2020s, 2021,
- Case report »
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Craig Allen Harward
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- Alleged coverup
- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Pleaded guilty, Prison, Registered sex offender, Released,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Ongoing civil case,
- Victims: 10 or more victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: LDS church activity, LDS church building, LDS Sunday meetings, Recreational trip/outing,
- Crime: 1990s, 2000s, in California,
- Convicted: 2000s, 2004,
- Case report »
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Brandon Osorio Hernandez
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Plea agreement, Pleaded guilty, Unknown result,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2019,
- Case report »
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Craig Aaron Housley
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Plea agreement, Pleaded guilty, Prison, Probation,
- Victims: Unknown number of victims,
- Crime: 2010s, in Utah,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2018,
- Case report »
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Kenneth Enos Jenks
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- Alleged coverup
- was an LDS church member in California (Milpitas Ward); accused of 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison, Registered sex offender,
- Victims: 3 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: LDS church activity, LDS church building, Recreational trip/outing,
- Case report »
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Melvin Kay Johnson
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- Alleged coverup
- was a seminary teacher, BYU religion professor; accused by his children of sexually abusing his daughters; excommunicated, rebaptized; confessed to sexual abuse, but has not been arrested or criminally charged.
- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: Unknown result,
- Victims: 3 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's home, Victim's home,
- Alleged crime: 1960s, 1970s, in Utah,
- Case report »
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Larry M Johnson
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- Alleged coverup
- was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Unknown result,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Case report »
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Timothy David Kimball
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- 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.
- Criminal: Died awaiting trial, Not convicted, Suicide,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's home, Victim's home,
- Case report »
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George Patrick Lee
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- was a former LDS general authority; pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a child, a third-degree felony.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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Melvin MacNeil
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- was a Mormon church member in Ontario, Canada; accused of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Unknown result,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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Bruce A McAskill
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Found guilty, Prison,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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Chester Lewis Meek
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- was a Mormon bishop in Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada when he sexually abused a woman; convicted of sexual assault against a female church member; there were several victims in this case over a period of five years; at least one reported abuse taking place in the bishop's office inside an LDS chapel.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS bishop's office, LDS church building, Victim's home,
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LDS church payment: Yes (undisclosed amount)
- Case report »
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Lynn Alvin Mickelsen
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- was a former Mormon general authority (member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy) in Utah; accused in the 2010s of child sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Case report »
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Russell Dean Millsaps
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- was an LDS church member and retired police sergeant in Arizona; sentenced in 2016 to 323 years in prison for child sexual exploitation.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Crime: 1990s, 2010s, in Arizona,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2016,
- Case report »
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Joseph Montanino
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- was an LDS church member and scout leader in Massachusetts; had a career as a police officer; accused in 1982 of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime: 1980s, in Massachusetts,
- Convicted: 1980s,
- Case report »
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Shawn Tyler Mortensen
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime: 2020s, in New Mexico,
- Convicted: 2020s, 2022,
- Case report »
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Jonathon Kent Moser
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- Alleged coverup
- 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".
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2017,
- Case report »
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Eustacio Munioz
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: Civil judgment in favor of plaintiff, lawsuit against LDS church, LDS church found negligent,
- Victims: 3 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 1990s, 2000s, in Texas,
- Case report »
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Spencer John 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.
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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Chesley Nels Pierson
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- Alleged coverup
- was an LDS bishop, stake presidency counselor and stake patriarch in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; accused of sexually abusing multiple young men.
- Criminal: Police investigation, Unknown result,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Alleged crime: 1970s, in Canada,
- Case report »
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Mark Chadwick Porter
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- 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Pleaded guilty,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 2020s, in Utah,
- Convicted: 2020s, 2022,
- Case report »
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Michael Jay Pratt
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- was a former LDS seminary principal; arrested in 2009; convicted and sentenced in 2010 for the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old seminary student.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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Carl Dee Pratt
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- 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.
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS bishop's office, LDS church building,
- Case report »
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Richard Blaine Sampson
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- was a Mormon bishop, stake high council member and doctor in Provo, Utah; Director of Medical Affairs for the LDS Missionary Training Center; 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.
- Criminal: Convicted, Parole, Prison, Registered sex offender, Released,
- Victims: 7 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 2000s, 2010s, in Provo (Utah), Utah, Utah County (Utah),
- Convicted: 2010s, 2014,
- Case report »
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Orin Ervin Searle
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- Alleged coverup
- was an LDS church member; accused of sexual abuse.
- Criminal: Not convicted, Unknown result,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Alleged crime: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, in Utah,
- Case report »
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Philander Knox 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.
- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: Multiple victims,
- Crime scenes: Unknown crime scene,
- Alleged crime: 2010s, in Puerto Rico,
- Case report »
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Paul Edward Spencer
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- 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.
- Criminal: Ongoing, Police investigation,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: Online,
- Alleged crime: 2020s, in Salt Lake County (Utah), Utah,
- Case report »
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Arthur Stout
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- 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.
- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Ongoing civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building, Perpetrator's home, Vehicle, Victim's home,
- Alleged crime: 1990s, in California,
- Case report »
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Sean David Sund
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- was an LDS primary teacher in Utah; was convicted in 2022 of sexually abusing a girl from his LDS ward.
- Criminal: Convicted,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's home,
- Crime: 2010s, in Utah,
- Convicted: 2020s, 2022,
- Case report »
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Jim UNKNOWN
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- 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.
- Criminal: Never charged,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Ongoing civil case,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Crime scenes: LDS church building,
- Alleged crime: 2000s, in California,
- Case report »
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Keith Robert Vallejo
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- was a Mormon bishop in Utah; convicted of sexually abusing and raping two underage girls; sentenced in 2017 to five years to life in prison.
- Criminal: Convicted, Found guilty, Jury trial, Prison,
- Victims: 2 victims, Multiple victims,
- Crime: 2010s, in Utah,
- Convicted: 2010s, 2017,
- Case report »
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Mark S Webster
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- was a branch president in New Mexico; accused of rape in a civil lawsuit.
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: lawsuit against LDS church, Unknown result,
- Victims: 1 victim,
- Case report »
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