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Donate »16 Mormon sexual abuse cases found
Robert Berchtold
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- was a Mormon church member in Idaho; sexually abused a child; in 1986, was found guilty of rape of a child and spent one year in jail.
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- Criminal: Convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Missionary, Temple worker,
- Crime: 1970s, 1980s, in Idaho,
- Crime scenes: Victim's home,
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Donnie Boring
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- 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.
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- Criminal: Convicted, Unknown result,
- Positions: Bishop, Missionary, Seminary teacher, Stake high council, Temple worker, Youth leader,
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Eddie Bunch
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- was an LDS church member in St. George, Utah; convicted in 2016 of misdemeanor lewdness involving a child and misdemeanor sexual battery; one victim was 16 years old and the second victim was 12 years old; served 135 days in jail and had 36 months of probation; as of March 2024, is a registered sex offender living in St. George, Utah.
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- Criminal: Convicted, Jail, Probation, Registered sex offender,
- Positions: Temple worker,
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James Denos
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- 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 of his granddaughters living in Utah; allegedly began molesting kids as early as 1950.
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Alleged coverup- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, Missionary, Stake high council, Temple worker, Ward clerk,
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Larry Deutsch
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- was a Mormon bishop in Missouri; arrested in 2020 and charged with possession of child pornography (child sexual abuse material, or CSAM) and accused of luring an underage teenager from Arizona to Missouri; pleaded guilty; sentenced in 2021 to 12 years in federal prison plus a lifetime of supervised release; in 2024, the victim filed a civil lawsuit against the LDS church.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Convicted, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
- Civil: Lawsuit v. LDS church, Ongoing,
- Positions: Bishop, Scout leader, Sunday school, Temple worker, Youth leader,
- Crime: 2010s, 2020s, in Arizona, Maricopa County (Arizona), Missouri,
- Crime scenes: LDS building, Online,
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John Doe
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- was a Mormon bishop in or near Salt Lake City, Utah; accused of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy; the alleged sexual assault took place in the Salt Lake Temple in the 1980s (approximately 1986), during a visit to perform baptisms for the dead.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, Temple worker,
- Alleged crime: 1980s, in Salt Lake County (Utah), Utah,
- Crime scenes: LDS building, LDS temple,
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John Doe
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- was a Mormon temple worker in Los Angeles, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the LDS church of sexually assaulting a man in 1984 while performing a private anointing ritual in the Los Angeles LDS temple.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: Lawsuit v. LDS church, Ongoing,
- Positions: Temple worker,
- Alleged crime: 1980s, in California,
- Crime scenes: LDS building, LDS temple,
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David Keller
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- was a Mormon temple worker, Sunday school teacher and former stake presidency member in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah; admitted in May 2024 to child sexual abuse and was charged with seven first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
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- Criminal: Admitted guilt, Ongoing,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Stake presidency counselor, Sunday school, Temple worker,
- Alleged crime: 2000s, 2010s, in Cache County (Utah), Utah,
- Crime scenes: Perpetrator's home, Victim's home,
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Brian Mitchell
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- was a Mormon church member and temple worker in Utah; abductor, with Wanda Barzee, of Elizabeth Smart.
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- Criminal: Convicted,
- Positions: Stake high council, Temple worker,
- Crime: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, in Utah,
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Carl 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.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishop, High priest, Other leader, Scout leader, Stake high council, Temple worker,
- Crime scenes: Bishop's office, LDS building,
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Orin Searle
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- 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.
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- Alleged coverup
- Criminal: Not convicted,
- Civil: No civil case,
- Positions: Bishopric counselor, Elders quorum, High priest, Other leader, Temple worker,
- Alleged crime: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, in Utah,
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Carl Sepos
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- was an LDS temple worker and high priest in Payson, Utah; pleaded guilty in 2015 to sexually abusing an adult woman with Down syndrome and autism at a hotel swimming pool; he blamed his sex crime in part on an addiction to pornography; sentenced to 150 days in jail, 36 months of probation and 100 hours of community service.
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- Criminal: Community service, Convicted, Jail, Plea agreement, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
- Positions: High priest, Temple worker,
- Crime: 2010s, in Utah,
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Joseph Shanks
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- was an LDS senior missionary and temple worker in Chorley, Lancashire, England; found guilty of ten charges related to sex crimes after he was caught in a police sting operation trying to meet three young children for sex.
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- Criminal: Convicted, Jail,
- Positions: Missionary, Temple worker,
- Crime: 2010s, in England, United Kingdom,
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Michael Shean
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- was a Mormon bishopric counselor and temple worker, and deputy district attorney in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, California; convicted of sexually molesting boys.
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- Alleged coverup
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LDS church payment: Undisclosed amount
- Criminal: Convicted, Prison,
- Civil: Judgment for plaintiff, Lawsuit v. LDS church, Settlement,
- Positions: Bishopric counselor, Missionary, Seminary teacher, Temple worker,
- Crime: 1980s, in California,
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Stephen Stokes
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- 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.
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- Criminal: Never charged, Not convicted,
- Civil: Dismissed, Dismissed with prejudice,
- Positions: Bishopric counselor, BYU, Missionary, Scout leader, Stake high council, Temple worker, Youth leader,
- Alleged crime: 2010s, in Idaho,
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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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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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