Part 4 of a series on lawsuits alleging sexual abuse coverups by Mormon officials.
Part 1 – $59 million, five years: what Mormon officials spent to stop a sex abuse lawsuit
Part 2 – Timeline: LDS church sued insurers to collect $90 million, after settling 5-year-long child sex abuse suit
Part 3 – Wave of around 100 Mormon sex abuse lawsuits continues in California
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has lost a civil lawsuit against insurance companies over settlement payments it made to six West Virginia families in 2018 regarding allegations that Mormon officials hid child sexual abuse allegations from authorities and failed to provide proper support to victims.
Last month, FLOODLIT broke the story that the Mormon church spent $32 million to settle and over $27 million to defend a 2013 lawsuit alleging it covered up child sexual abuse in West Virginia.
We also published a detailed timeline showing how the Mormon church sued two of its insurance companies, hoping to recover around $90 million, saying they refused to reimburse its costs in the West Virginia suit.
FOX 13 Salt Lake City reported today on the church’s loss in the Utah District Court.
FLOODLIT has purchased a copy of the court’s 42-page decision; it is available for free on our website. The conclusion reads in part:
“Based on the umbrella policies’ language, the underlying facts, and relevant caselaw, the court predicts that the Utah Supreme Court would hold that multiple occurrences arose from the underlying claims against the Church. Once the Church had knowledge that Mr. Jensen posed a risk of abuse to Church members, the Church had a duty to its members to prevent the abuse. The Church had multiple opportunities to act and failed to do so. Accordingly, there was a distinct occurrence under the policies each time Mr. Jensen abused a child or pair of siblings. And because the Church did not exhaust its retained limit for any of these occurrences, the insurers had no duty to indemnify the Church for any settlement payments.”
I used to be a Mormon, and I’m confused. Is this supposed to be a jab at Mormons? Cause literally any group, anywhere, has predators. I don’t know why there’s a website for this…Maybe if it was someone in the first presidency who’d been doing this for a while or something like Joseph Smith’s history with the young polygamy wives, but random old guys who say they’re Mormon is a little confusing…just why. I don’t think it would change the testimony of a Mormon to hear that Billy Black was creepy. 2% of inmates are Mormon. I’m not saying what they did wasn’t disgusting, there’s just purely no point. Again, I don’t at all believe the beliefs of Mormons, I just hope you realize this isn’t something to prove that Mormonism isn’t real. If you want facts, read the CES letter or look into the history of the church. I mean, if you feel like writing stories about this, I guess go for it.