17

Former LDS/Mormon church stake high council members who have been publicly accused or found guilty of sexual abuse or sex crimes.

  • Allen, Terry George was an LDS church member; in 1987, was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to six years in prison
    1943-
  • Boring, Donnie Rue was a 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
    1950-2017
  • Bothell, Timothy William was a LDS church employee and LDS church member in Utah; pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2013 for sexual abuse of 2 girls ages 11 and 13
    1969-
  • Elison, Gerald Howard 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
    1930-2019
  • Farley, David Brian was a doctor in Oregon publicly accused of sexually abusing over 120 patients; the alleged abuse occurred over a span of many years while Farley was an active LDS/Mormon church member
    1958-
  • Fuller, Francis Heber 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 prison
    1940-
  • Gardner, Samuel Howard former LDS bishop in Oklahoma; accused of sexual abuse
    1932-1968
  • Gooden, Shawn Cory was an LDS bishop in Lebanon, Pennsylvania from 2016-2020; arrested in 2022 and charged with sexual abuse of two girls in Virginia from 1997-2000; pleaded guilty in July 2023 in Virginia to four felony counts; sentencing hearing scheduled for November 2023; charged in July 2023 in Pennsylvania with more child sex abuse charges
    1974-
  • Hack, Matthew John 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
    -
  • Jenkins, Ronald Alvin was an high school teacher in Filer Idaho; was a Mormon scout leader, bishiopric counselor and stake high council member in Idaho; accused of sexual abuse; convicted of 10 counts of Lewd Conduct with a minor in 1996; sentenced to 17 years in prison
    1942-
  • Johnson, Carl Matthew former mayor of West Bountiful, UT; former Mormon bishop in Utah; arrested for and charged with sexually abusing several children; pleaded guilty in January 2023 to four felony counts of child sexual abuse; sentenced in March 2023 to prison
    1945-
  • Murdock, Steven Dean former Mormon bishop and stake high council member in Utah; in 2019, was caught taking photos of a young woman in a dressing room in Tennessee; pleaded guilty in November 2019
    1963-
  • Poelman, Byron Lloyd 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
    1934-2014
  • Pratt, Carl Dee was a Mormon bishop in San Manuel, Arizona; allegedly sexually abused a boy in his ward
    1930-2006
  • Sampson, Richard Blaine was a Mormon church member and bishop in Provo, Utah; convicted child sexual abuser and former Provo, Utah MTC doctor; sentenced in 2014 to one to 15 years in prison for child sexual abuse
    1945-
  • Van Wagenen, Sterling Gray co-founder of Sundance Film Festival, director of some Mormon temple endowment videos; sentenced to prison in 2019 for child sexual abuse
    1947-
  • Withers, LaVar Madsen was a Mormon church member and physician in Idaho; was accused of sexual abuse by over 125 women and children (some as young as 13 years old); admitted to sexual abuse; found guilty of misdemeanor battery; sentenced to 30 days in jail; Mormon church placed him on probation and took his temple recommend
    1936-2005