47 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • LDS position: Stake high council
    • 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • Donnie Boring was a former Mormon bishop and stake high council member in California / Arizona; pleaded guilty in 2017 to a felony charge of sexual abuse; died in December 2017
    • Timothy Bothell was a LDS church employee and stake high council member in Utah; pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2013 to two years in jail for sexual abuse of two girls, ages 11 and 13
    • David Cannata was a Mormon bishop in Tucson, Arizona in 2005 when he sexually abused a child who was 5 or 6 years old; was a stake high council member sometime in the 2010s; was confronted by the victim and turned himself into the police; convicted in 2019 and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison; was excommunicated from the Mormon church because of the abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Jack Cash was a Mormon bishopric counselor and stake high council member in San Luis Obispo, California; was a practicing chiropractor for more than 30 years; between 1979 and 1995, allegedly fondled at least 11 women's breasts during chiropractic visits; license suspended in 1985; in 1995, convicted by jury of seven misdemeanor counts of sexual battery; sentenced to 2 months in jail, 3 years probation
    • Kevin Christensen was a Mormon church member and judge in Brigham City, Utah; accused of receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to individuals he believed to be minor children; pleaded not guilty in July 2025
    • Mark Cram was a former Mormon bishop and stake presidency counselor, and city manager in Riverton, Utah; charged in 2006 with voyeurism; admitted climbing a 9-foot wall at a tanning salon to watch a 16-year-old girl undress; pleaded guilty; plea was held in abeyance; he completed the terms set by the court, charge was dismissed and case was expunged in 2008; as of February 2024, lives in Riverton, Utah
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Kenneth Curtis was a Mormon church member; accused of sexual abuse; convicted
    • James Denos was a former LDS bishop and junior high school teacher in Utah; previously lived and served as a Mormon bishop in California; sentenced in 2002 to a minimum of 20 years in a Utah state prison for sexually abusing four minor girls living in Utah; allegedly began molesting kids as early as 1950
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Gerald Elison was an LDS church member and junior high school drama teacher in Orem, Utah; accused in 2014 in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy student in the early 1980s; died in 2019
    • Pierre Euvrard was a Mormon mission president from 1991 to 1994 in the Mascarene Islands mission / South Africa Durban mission; died in 2000; accused in a 2020 Arizona lawsuit of sexually abusing two underage teen boys for years while working as a mission president
    • David Farley was a former doctor and LDS church member in West Linn, Oregon; accused of sexually abusing over 200 patients; the alleged abuse occurred over a span of many years, during which Farley was an LDS stake high council member for some time; never criminally charged; in February 2024, the city of West Linn, Oregon released a report about the way its police department investigated Farley
    • Francis Fuller was a Mormon bishop in Highland, Utah in 1993; also was a stake high council member in Utah; in 2018 or 2019, pleaded guilty to two second degree felony counts of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2019 in Utah to two years in jail and four years probation; registered sex offender
    • Martin Gilmour was a Mormon church member in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland; accused of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old child; was arrested in November 2024
    • 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Matthew Hack was a Mormon church member and stake high council member in Oklahoma; accused in 2019 of child sexual abuse; pleaded no contest to an amended charge of child neglect
    • Brent Hansen was an LDS church member and dentist in Spanish Fork, Utah; was also mayor of Spanish Fork and president of its chamber of commerce; accused in a civil lawsuit of receiving sexual favors from a dentistry patient in return for prescriptions for narcotics; his dentistry license was suspended for 30 days; died in 2015
    • James Haskell was a former Mormon bishop and practicing attorney in Vacaville, California; charged with 14 felonies and three misdemeanors for allegedly sexually abusing four children; was an LDS stake high council member when charged; pleaded not guilty; in June 2024, found not guilty in a jury trial of 16 of 17 counts; jurors deadlocked on one count of felony injury upon a child
    • Erik Hughes was a Mormon bishop in Mapleton, Utah and a Mormon church senior product manager when he sexually abused two underage children in his LDS ward dozens of times; was sentenced to prison in 2017; released in 2023; as of 2024, registered sex offender living in Utah
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Ángel Jaramillo was an LDS church member in Jujuy, Argentina; arrested on child pornography and abuse charges (which includes distribution, tenancy, and production of material)
    • Ronald Jenkins was a Mormon scout leader, bishopric counselor and stake high council member in Idaho; worked as a high school teacher; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in 1996 of 10 counts of lewd conduct with a minor; sentenced to 17 years in prison; registered sex offender
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Carl Johnson was a former Mormon bishop and former mayor of West Bountiful, Utah; arrested in 2022 and charged with sexually abusing several children between 1983 and 1997; pleaded guilty in 2023 to four felony counts of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2023 to three consecutive terms of nine years to life each for first-degree felonies, plus one term of one to 15 years on a second-degree felony
    • Major Madon was an LDS church member in Mapleton, Utah; convicted of child sexual abuse; as of 2024, serving time in prison in Central Utah Correctional Facility
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Brian Mitchell was a Mormon church member and temple worker in Utah; abductor, with Wanda Barzee, of Elizabeth Smart
    • Steven Murdock was a Mormon stake high council member and former LDS bishop in Holladay, Salt Lake County, Utah; allegedly sexually harassed multiple women in his ward while he was their bishop (he was bishop from 2013 to 2017); in 2019, was caught taking photos of a young woman in a dressing room in Tennessee; pleaded guilty in November 2019; sentenced in 2019 to one year probation, 48 hours community service
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Jeffrey Rock was an LDS church member; accused of sexual abuse
    • Ramiro Saenz was an LDS mission president and temple president in Bolivia; accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls
    • 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
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Robert Smith was a Mormon church member in Tooele, Utah; worked for the FBI; accused in 2022 of sexual abuse of several girls; as of April 2023, case is still underway in the Utah court system; in November 2023, charged with more sex crimes; Preliminary hearing date has been moved to June 30 2025 at 10 AM in third District Court, Tooele Utah
    • Stephen Stokes was a Mormon church member and Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-I) professor; accused of sexual assault by a former student; died in 2016; in 2022, civil lawsuit against BYU-I was dismissed with prejudice
    • John Thiele was a Mormon church stake high council member in Idaho; convicted in 2018 of sexual abuse, no jail time served; registered as sex offender
    • Donald Tolman was an LDS church member and former bishop in Provo, Utah (Provo 10th Ward, starting in 1975); convicted in 2020 of six felony counts related to child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2020 to 25 years to life in prison
    • Veloy Twitchell was a Mormon church member in Marysville, Washington; accused of perpetrating a sex crime in or around 2004
    • LaVar Withers was a Mormon and physician in Rexburg, Idaho; accused of sexually abusing at least 133 women and children as young as 13 years old over a period of 30 or more years; admitted to sexual abuse; in 1996, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery; sentenced to 30 to 60 days in jail and two years probation; the Mormon church placed him on probation and took his temple recommend; died in 2005
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • 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
    • Lynn Wright was an LDS church member; accused of sexual abuse