Recently updated Mormon sexual abuse cases

10/26/02 Calgary, Canada

LDS Pierson was accused of several sexual abuse allegations. “The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints has excommunicated a long-time high-ranking member in the wake of
multiple allegations of sexual abuse and a police probe, The Sun has learned…. Pierson, a
Patriarch with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Calgary, is being
investigated by police over allegations he has had inappropriate sexual contact with young
males in the church. Patriarchs are high-ranking church elders who can bless congregation
members. …In 1973, Snelling, now 57, says he complained to his stake president – similar to
an archbishop – of the Mormon church in Edmonton that Pierson had fondled his genitals.
That individual has since died. “(The Stake president) swept it under the rug,” Snelling
said…”

From L Moss Sharman
Church Shocker Mormon Leader Excommunicated
by Kevin Connor,
Edmonton Sun 10/26/02

—

from Pierson’s obituary:

“Ches was born in Lethbridge and raised in Jefferson and Sterling, Alberta. After High School he attended Brigham Young University and then served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to England, a time in his life that he cherished. After returning from England, he met [his wife], the sister of one of his missionary companions. Soon after they were engaged and married in the Logan Utah Temple. They began their life together in Calgary where they settled and raised their family.

Ches worked in various positions until he was offered the opportunity to work in funeral service, his life long desire. He began at Foster’s Garden Chapel, then later moved to Cy Foster Gooder Funeral Home. He left funeral service for about five years to work at Cowley and Keith Real Estate, a move that allowed him to use his organizational and social skills.

During this time, his son [name] began working in Funeral Service which provided many family and friends to continue to be cared for by a Pierson family member. After the sudden collapse of Cowley and Keith and without employment, our family decided to open our own funeral home. Ches, [wife and son], along with the support of many renovated a building & opened Pierson’s Funeral Service in Forest Lawn in 1983. This was the realization of a life long dream and they worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the business.

Ches and [wife] served two missions for the church, first in Oakland, CA and then in the London England Temple. Upon returning to Calgary, they moved to the community of Oakridge and then when [wife]’s health began to fail, into Garrison Green.

Ches loved to serve others and he loved to work! In his younger years, he supplemented his income by teaching Dale Carnegie, which enhanced his skills in public speaking. He served in many positions in the Church, including Home Teacher, Bishop, Patriarch and other Stake callings, and a variety of callings as a teacher. Rotary was an important part of his life and he was a member of the Rotary Club of Calgary East.”

Listed as Mormon in the Boy Scout perversion files. News clipping from Hayward Review states “an irate Dad violently attacks Hansen” Hansen is listed twice in the BSA files and was in 2 different troops.

12/13/60 California

LDS Jene Albert Hansen listed as Mormon in the Boy Scout perversion files. News
clipping from Hayward Review states “an irate Dad violently attacks Hansen” Hansen is
listed twice in the BSA files and was in 2 different troops.

Paul Adams was excommunicated from the Mormon church in 2013. He died by suicide while awaiting trial.

—

from the Associated Press on August 4, 2022:

“MJ was a tiny, black-haired girl, just 5 years old, when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her.

“The father, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an admitted pornography addict, was in counseling with his bishop when he revealed the abuse. The bishop, who was also a family physician, followed church policy and called what church officials have dubbed the “help line” for guidance.

“But the call offered little help for MJ. Lawyers for the church, widely known as the Mormon church, who staff the help line around the clock told Bishop John Herrod not to call police or child welfare officials. Instead he kept the abuse secret.”

from the Associated Press on December 22, 2022:

“Six years before the video surfaced in Auckland, Adams, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, confessed to his bishop that he abused his daughter, identified by the AP as MJ.

“But a prominent church lawyer told the bishop to keep the abuse secret. And as a result, MJ was brutalized for seven more years. Today, she continues to be victimized almost daily in a different way, as the video, and others Adams took, circulate on the internet. Details of the Mormon officials’ cover-up of the Adams rapes were reported in an AP investigation in August.

[…]

“Lynne Cadigan, one of several attorneys representing three of the Adams children, said MJ will seek compensation from the child pornographers.

“But she and Salminen, the girl’s adoptive mother, lay most of the blame for the sexual abuse on officials of the Mormon church, who knew Adams molested MJ as early as 2010 and did nothing to stop it.

[…]

“Attorneys for the church say the bishops who knew that Adams abused his daughter — John Herrod and Robert “Kim” Mauzy — did nothing wrong by taking a lawyer’s advice and withholding the information because Adams told Herrod about the abuse during a spiritual confession, triggering the privilege.

“In a statement to the AP, the church said it had no knowledge Adams was recording himself abusing his two daughters and posting the material on the internet until 2017. “The Church had no idea that these videos were being created or circulated until after Paul Adams was arrested,” the statement read. “The church supports all efforts to prosecute anyone who possesses or distributes these heinous and disturbing videos.””

Lee turned himself in in 1993.

raised in the LDS Indian Placement Program

excommunicated in 1989

divorced in 1996

“George was the first Native American General Authority in LDS church history.”

“the first general authority in 46 years to be excommunicated”

“He was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships that helped him earn his B.S. from BYU, Masters from Utah State University and finally his Ed.D. in Educational Administration from BYU. He was the first Native American to get a Doctorate degree from BYU and later served as the President of the College of Ganado and Principal at Tuba City High School in Arizona.”

mission president, Arizona Holbrook Mission, served for three years, ~1970s

1st Quorum of Seventy from 10/3/1975 to time of arrest in 1989

date of alleged crime: 1992
alleged victim: 12-year-old girl

“charges of molesting a 12-year-old girl, a friend of his daughter, a court official said Friday.”

“He was arraigned on one count of first-degree felony child sex abuse, which carries a maximum sentence of five years to life in prison. Prosecutors said the charges were filed as a first-degree felony because Lee ‘occupied a position of special trust to the victim’ as a church leader.”

Gerald Elison was a junior high school drama teacher and Mormon church member in Orem, Utah.

In 2014, he was sued civilly by a man who alleged that Elison sexually molested him when the man was a student in Elison’s class in the early 1980s.

The lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations having expired.

Elison signed a confession that remained in his victim’s possession as of November 2018.

—

from Elison’s obituary in 2019:

“Mr E began his career teaching as a Principal of an elementary school, but spent most of his time in the classroom teaching choir, English, Drama, and Stage Crew. Jerry spent 50+ years teaching in Alpine School District. His real love was being on stage and teaching young people his love of theater. In addition to teaching and directing in schools, he also performed and directed throughout Utah County, including Sundance Summer Theatre, Hale Center Theater, and SCERA Theater, among many others. He has received many awards for his community service.

Jerry was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on November 15, 1957, to [Jane Doe], an excellent pianist and teacher. They recently celebrated their 62nd Anniversary. They have 7 children. Jerry was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and faithfully served in many church callings, including three Single Adult Bishoprics and on a Stake High Council. His favorite calling was playing the piano in Primary for over 20 years.

Jerry loved people and said of those he worked with: “I want them to remember the good times we shared together and the things that we were able to do in theater. I want them to remember the associations they’ve had with people and the fun of telling a story and being together and making it come alive for those who come to see it. That it’s been a good remembrance for them; that they have happy memories of it and good feelings of it.””

LDS Michael Adamson, “A CHURCH caretaker who abused children as young as seven
has been jailed – more than 25 years after his crimes. Over a 16-year-period, Michael
Adamson molested four girls in the congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints – including two in the church’s boiler room. He abused a third in her home when he
came around to tune her piano while she was off school ill.”

York Crown Court also heard how elders at the church knew of Adamson’s crimes as
long ago as 1998 and allowed him to continue worshipping there .” “In the past
Adamson was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to 11 charges of indecent
assault committed between 1966 and 1982.”

—

From The York Press on 2008-06-21
“A CHURCH caretaker who abused children as young as seven has been jailed – more than 25 years after his crimes.

Over a 16-year-period, Michael Adamson molested four girls in the congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – including two in the church’s boiler room.

He abused a third in her home when he came around to tune her piano while she was off school ill.

When he stopped, he “gave her a look as if to say Don’t say anything or you are dead’,” said prosecutor Dr Tina Dempster.

York Crown Court also heard how elders at the church knew of Adamson’s crimes as long ago as 1998 and allowed him to continue worshipping there.

Adamson, of Thornwood Covert, off Foxwood Lane, York, who also played the church organ, was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault committed between 1966 and 1982. Judge Stephen Ashurst told Adamson: “You have enjoyed your liberty and you have held on to your position of apparent respectability in the wider community and in your religious community,” Adamson now faces excommunication from the church.

Child abuser is put behind bars

A PAEDOPHILE jailed for sexually attacking youngsters at his church now faces excommunication, York Crown Court heard.

Elders of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints knew about organist and caretaker Michael John Adamson’s crimes a decade ago and allowed him to continue worshipping there after a three-week suspension, said Tina Dempster, prosecuting.

He had abused four girls aged seven to 15 during a 16 year period, including molesting two of them in the boiler-room of the church’s Acomb chapel. All four belonged to families in its congregation.

He abused a third when he visited her home to tune the piano and she was off school with illness. When he stopped he “gave her a look as if to say Don’t say anything or you are dead’,” said Dr Dempster.

But though all four kept silent for years, they finally spoke out and Adamson admitted his crimes 26 years after they stopped.

His barrister, Geraldine Kelly, said he will now appear before a church court where “there is every likelihood he will be excommunicated”.

“He looks to his family and the church for support and understanding; he looks to his victims for forgiveness,” she said.

Calling him a hypocrite, the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, jailed Adamson, 63, of Thornwood Covert, off Foxwood Lane, for six years.

“You have enjoyed your liberty and you have held onto your position of apparent respectability in the wider community and in your religious community,” he said. He added that Adamson had betrayed the trust of the girls’ parents, who were church members, and had a lasting effect on all four girls, now women.

Adamson pleaded guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault committed between 1966 and 1982.

In addition to the jail term, the judge restricted his activities for the rest of his life under a sexual offences prevention order, banned him from ever working with children again and put him on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Speaking of the suspension in 1998, Miss Kelly said: “Coming before the church and being dealt with by the church elders at that stage of his life was a real punishment. It was shame and disgrace.”

The church was a major part of his life, and he had had to prove himself with other church members after the suspension, a process that took three to four years. After police became involved earlier this year, he was again regularly interviewed by church members.

He had not committed any crimes in the last 26 years and had spared his victims the ordeal of giving evidence by pleading guilty.”

Brandon Manning was an LDS church member who was convicted twice of sex crimes.

Despite his conviction in Utah in 2001, Manning was assigned to be a young men’s president in a Georgia LDS ward in the 2010s.

Manning was arrested in 2019 and charged with eight felony counts of child sexual exploitation.

As of 2023, he lives in Georgia and is a registered sex offender.

William Guymon Bruhn was a Mormon church member arrested in a public restroom allegedly caught masturbating. Had to pay a $250 fine and spend 5 days in jail. He denied the allegations and said “he was the victim of an overzealous vice officer who made a mistake”

Thanks to your support and information tips, FLOODLIT has been able to identify the abuser’s name in this case. However, we have decided not to publish his name here, to shield the victim’s identity.

We urge all who read the details of this case to be sensitive to the victim’s desire for anonymity and privacy.

During the abuser’s criminal sentencing in California after his arrest in 1997, only one person, an adult who was not LDS, sat with the victim on one side of the courtroom. The LDS members, including her mother and bishop, sat on the abuser’s side.

—

From the Associated Press on 2023-04-27:

“RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A woman who was molested for years by her stepfather has been awarded $2.28 billion by a California jury in a lawsuit that also implicated her mother and the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which both parents were active, her attorneys announced.

The panel in Riverside County Superior Court awarded damages Tuesday to a woman described in court papers only as Jane Doe, who said she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather from age 5 until she was 14, according to an announcement by the law firm of Gary A. Dordick.

The lawsuit alleged that beginning in the 1980s, the stepfather sexually abused the girl. The assaults took place at their Lake Elsinore home and at events, meetings, and property of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the lawsuit said.

“These ongoing acts of abuse brought Plaintiff to the brink of suicide,” according to the lawsuit.

In addition to the stepfather, the negligence and sexual abuse suit also named the church and the woman’s mother. It alleged that the woman repeatedly told church officials, including local bishops, about the sexual abuse but that they failed to report it to law enforcement in violation of church policy and also used “intimidation and shaming tactics” to keep her from telling anyone outside the church.

The AP is not naming the stepfather nor the mother to shield the identity of the victim. An email to the stepfather’s attorney seeking comment wasn’t returned.

The stepfather was arrested in 1997 after Jane Doe told her high school basketball coach about the abuse, the suit said. He pleaded guilty to committing lewd acts with a child under age 14 and spent three years in state prison, according to the lawsuit.

While denying wrongdoing, the church settled its part of the lawsuit for $1 million in December, and the woman’s mother settled for $200,000 in February, according to the woman’s lawyers.

The stepfather failed to appear at trial on the first day of jury selection and withdrew his answer to the lawsuit rather than face a warrant for his arrest, and “accordingly, his attorney was not able to participate in the trial,” the law firm said in an email.”

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From the Los Angeles Daily News on 2023-04-27:

“A Riverside County jury has awarded $2.28 billion — perhaps the largest amount in a child sexual-assault case in U.S. history — to the stepdaughter of a one-time Lake Elsinore church elder who admitted in his criminal trial decades ago to committing lewd acts on a minor.

Before the jury on Tuesday, April 25, ordered the man to pay $836 million in general damages and $1.44 billion in punitive damages, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled out of court for $1 million and the woman’s mother agreed to pay $200,000, according to the attorney for the woman, who is now 41.

The stepfather did not show up to the civil trial, said the lawyer, Gary A. Dordick. The jury returned the verdict on the third day of deliberations.

The Southern California News Group is not identifying the relatives to protect the victim.

“Mrs. Doe wants everyone to know there is no shame in being a victim of abuse,” Dordick said.

The victim does not expect to receive much of the award, Dordick said, with her stepfather in his 70s and working in a trophy shop.

But she felt vindicated.

“It’s part of her healing process to have this despicable person held responsible,” the lawyer said. “The jury verdict was very satisfying to her emotionally. We would like to take whatever he has as punishment.”

Dordick told jurors that if Fox Corp. agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle the defamation lawsuit that damaged the voting machine company’s reputation, then his client was entitled to at least $1.6 billion in combined damages for suffering physical abuse.

The lawyer said he is not aware of a larger award in a similar case: “We think it’s the biggest. I’ve been doing this 36 years. It’s the largest sexual assault verdict in history.”

In 2018, when a jury in Georgia awarded $1 billion to a 20-year-old woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a security guard six years earlier, the woman’s attorney said he believed it was the largest such award to an individual in U.S. history.

In the Lake Elsinore case, the victim alleged in her lawsuit that the abuse began around 1987 and that after she joined the church, the abuse continued in the church sanctuary, parking lot and gymnasium.

According to the civil lawsuit, in 1994, when the girl was 13, she told a church bishop about her accusations and so he organized a meeting with her, him and the parents. “The bishop talked about forgiveness,” the lawsuit says.

The mother, in a court filing, denied the allegation that she knew about the assaults but did nothing to stop them.

The abuse continued, the civil suit says, until the victim told her high school basketball coach. Authorities were called, and the stepfather was arrested. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to one count [FLOODLIT note: it was actually 55 counts] of committing three or more acts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14, Superior Court records show.

In that case, the victim was his client, Dordick said.”

FLOODLIT’s sources indicate that Allsford served as a Mormon bishop in the Plymouth England stake from the 1990s to at least 2002.

From Devon Live:

“Mormon Bishop killed himself on third day of child sex abuse trial

He entered the water to take his own life. He left a note and sent a text message to his wife, an inquest heard.

By Caroline Abbott
Senior Consumer and What’s On Reporter

13:43, 26 SEP 2017
Updated 19:52, 26 SEP 2017

A former Mormon bishop whose body was found washed up on a Devon beach during his trial for alleged sex offences against two girls took his own life.

Stewart Allsford, 66, of Davies Avenue, Paignton, went missing from his home in the early hours of June 7. An extensive search was launched, involving the coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboat, after his car was found with the keys in the ignition at Berry Head in Brixham.

An inquest in Torquay on Tuesday heard that his body was found at Seaton in East Devon three days later, on June 10, by a holidaymaker who had been walking along the coastal path.

On the day he went missing, Mr Allsford had been due to attend the third day of his trial at Exeter Crown Court. He had admitted indecently assaulting a girl when she was 14 but denied five other charges of sex abuse and one of abducting a child under 16.

Glasgow-born Mr Allsford was a representative of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, at the time of the alleged abuse in the 1990s.

The inquest on Tuesday heard that the medical cause of death was unascertained. The post-mortem examination by Dr Nicholas Ryley found that Mr Allsford had heart disease, but there was no clear evidence he drowned, no obvious signs of injury to show he had fallen from height, and no drugs or alcohol in his system.

DC Nikki Zulhayir said in a statement that the likely hypothesis was that he entered the water to take his own life. He left a note and sent a text message to his wife Christine, anticipating that they would be read after his death. His wife attended the inquest but declined to comment.

Coroner Ian Arrow recorded that Mr Allsford, a retired panel beater, had decided to take his own life.”