Mormon sexual abuse cases: new updates

• Jeffrey Byron Head
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  • Jeffrey Head (1964 – ) was an LDS bishop in Draper, Utah; committed sex crimes while serving as a Mormon bishop; in 2019, a jury found him guilty of attempted forcible sexual abuse, two counts of lewdness and sexual battery; sentenced to four months in jail and four years of probation
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Convicted: 2019,
  • Positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Missionary, Young Mens Leader, Youth leader,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Found guilty, Jail, Jury trial, Probation, Registered sex offender, Released,
  • View report »
• Trent Hugh Rogers
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  • Trent Rogers (1917 – 1995) was a Mormon church member in Arizona; accused of sexual abuse; pleaded guilty in 1986 and was sentenced to three years probation; a woman sued the Mormon church for $16 million in 1986; FLOODLIT is trying to find out the results of that suit
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Positions: Ministering/home teacher, Missionary, Sunday school teacher,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
  • Civil case(s): Lawsuit v. LDS church, Unknown result,
  • Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
  • View report »
• Joseph Brent Walker
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  "[Walker] needs to be with his community. He needs therapy, his ward, his family, his friends. He is not a risk to the community and never has been."
  — Letter requesting Walker’s release, August 2025
  Walker helped Mormon apostle Russell Ballard prepare speeches for years
  • Joseph Walker (1955 – ) was a former Mormon bishop, stake presidency counselor and LDS Public Affairs employee in Utah; charged in 2025 with three third-degree felony counts related to child sexual exploitation; allegedly "engaged in several sexually explicit conversations […] to seduce, lure, and entice [a 14-year-old girl] into engaging in multiple sexual acts;" released from jail after letters from church members
  • Convicted: 2025,
  • Positions: Bishop, Church employee, Missionary, Stake presidency counselor,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Jail, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Registered sex offender, Released,
  • View report »
• Arthur Gary Bishop
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  • Arthur Bishop (1952 – 1988) was a Mormon boy scout leader in Utah; was excommunicated in the 1970s; later molested multiple children and killed five young boys; was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 1988
  • Positions: Missionary, Scout leader,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Prison,
  • Alleged church actions: Excommunicated,
  • View report »
• Gerald Salcido
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  "I am angry. I feel like [church leaders] cover up a lot of things, and I honestly feel like that’s what happened. He went to his bishop. He was excommunicated. So why were the police never called?"
  — One of Salcido's alleged victims, 2018 interview with the Salt Lake Tribune
  • Gerald Salcido (1954 – ) was a Mormon church member and police officer in Mesa, Arizona and in Provo, Utah; accused of child sexual abuse of at least five children; Mormon officials knew in 1995 of alleged abuse, and excommunicated Salcido in 2006, but allegedly never reported abuse to police; convicted in 2020, sentenced to at least six years of probation
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Convicted: 2020,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Registered sex offender,
  • Alleged church actions: Excommunicated, Ward official accused of failure to report,
  • View report »
• Richard Harrison Saunders
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  • Richard Saunders (1944 – ) was a Mormon church member in Newtown, Connecticut; convicted in 2018 of crimes related to child sexual abuse; his sex offender registry listing says he "engaged in inappropriate touching of 4 minor female victims ages 13 - 5 and also exposed himself to the 4 minor victims"
  • Convicted: 2018,
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Registered sex offender, Released,
  • Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
  • View report »
• Alex Leonard Saunders
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  • Alex Saunders (2004 – ) was a Mormon church member in Payson, Utah; accused of sexual abuse
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Ongoing,
  • Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
  • View report »
• Michael Lynn Bronson
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  "A lot of what I was involved with, I was very selfish"
  — Michael Bronson, KSL 5 interview June, 26, 2018, as he described his sexual abuse crime of a child
  • Michael Bronson (1964 – ) was a former Mormon bishop in Vineyard, Utah County, Utah; sentenced to prison in 2017 for first-degree felony attempted aggravated child sexual abuse
  • Convicted: 2017,
  • Positions: Bishop, Missionary,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Prison, Registered sex offender,
  • View report »
• Erick Allen Mosteller
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  "That must have been a bad day for me. "
  — -Mosteller, when confronted with evidence that he had opened a significant number of CSAM videos on a certain day, after denying he had ever looked at any. - FBI interview, per prosecutors 2022
  "The objective computer evidence and the admissions of the Defendent during his police interview show that the Defendent has been viewing child sex abuse material (child pornography) since 2002" -prosectutors state of Utah
  • Erick Mosteller (1965 – ) was a Mormon church member and former youth leader in Utah; was caught downloading child sexual abuse material (CSAM); admitted to soliciting sex acts from trafficked women at Asian massage parlors; pleaded guilty in March 2023 to two second degree felony charges of child sexual exploitation; sentenced in August 2023 to 250 days in jail, with credit for 79 days served; placed on 4 years probation
  • Convicted: 2023,
  • Positions: Missionary, Youth leader,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Jail, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Probation,
  • Alleged church actions: Church members wrote letters of support,
  • View report »
• Carl Dee Pratt
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  • Carl Pratt (1930 – 2006) 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; the victim provided documents to Floodlit in 2023 detailing the abuse allegations; excommunicated in 1993, per victim; apparently rebaptized in 1990s; worked for seven years in Provo Utah Temple, per obit; died in 2006
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Positions: Bishop, High priest, Other leader, Scout leader, Stake high council, Stake presidency counselor, Temple worker,
  • Criminal case(s): Never charged, Not convicted,
  • Alleged church actions: Church position after excommunication, Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
  • View report »
• UNKNOWN Houska
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  • UNKNOWN Houska was an LDS church member (reportedly a bishop or other leader) in Cerritos, California; accused of sexual abuse by a claimant in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) bankruptcy; the alleged abuse took place in 1978
  • Positions: Bishop, Other leader,
  • Criminal case(s): Unknown result,
  • View report »
• Joshua Matthew Twelves
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  • Joshua Twelves (1976 – ) was a Mormon church member in Utah; convicted in 2016 of two second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor; as of April 2026, is a registered sex offender in Magna, Utah
  • Convicted: 2016,
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Registered sex offender,
  • Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
  • View report »
• William Sterling Evans
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  "Glen Elden VanWagenen (d. 2002). VanWagenen, a former bishop, worked for the LDS Church Welfare and Missionary Departments. Glen allegedly said that the two relatives should just let the matter lie, that they shouldn't report the abuse to authorities, and that God would take care of Evans in the next life."
  When Evans died, the family of one of his children reportedly received a condolence letter from the First Presidency of the LDS church
  • William Evans (1909 – 1991) was a prominent Mormon church member in Salt Lake City, Utah; was bishop twice of the Grant 6th ward; from 1957 to 1962, was in the Utah State Legislature; served as Salt Lake County Clerk from 1968 to 1983; died in 1991; allegedly raped a relative in Salt Lake City in the early 1980s
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Positions: Bishop, Stake presidency counselor,
  • Criminal case(s): Never charged, Not convicted,
  • Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
  • View report »
• Niles Lorence Carr
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  • Niles Carr was a Mormon missionary in Ireland in the late 1980s, originally from California; convicted of child sexual abuse charges; Mormon leaders allegedly assigned Carr to work with Boy Scouts after knowing he was sent home from his mission due to child sex abuse allegations
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Positions: Missionary,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted,
  • Alleged church actions: Released from church position, Ward official accused of failure to report,
  • View report »
• Paul William Newman
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  • Paul Newman (1957 – ) was a former Mormon bishop in Highland, Utah; charged in 2020 with one second-degree felony count of attempted sex abuse of a child; the alleged abuse took place in 2013, while Newman was a bishop; in 2022, pleaded no contest to a reduced third-degree count; a prison term of up to five years was suspended; was fined $1,003 and placed on 48 months of probation; registered sex offender
  • Convicted: 2022,
  • Positions: Bishop, Bishopric counselor, Scout leader, Youth leader,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, No contest, Probation, Registered sex offender,
  • Alleged church actions: Excommunicated,
  • View report »
• Allan Colman Cook
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  "What we felt had happened, though serious, was nothing that warranted a felony charge."
  — a relative of Cook, in a letter of support to the judge, April 2020
  • Allan Cook (1948 – ) was a Mormon church member in West Jordan, Utah; accused of child sexual abuse; pleaded guilty in 2020 to three second degree felony charges of aggravated child sexual abuse; sentenced to prison in 2020
  • Convicted: 2020,
  • Positions: Missionary,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
  • View report »
• Roy Webb Hunt
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  "Her parents took her to their bishop, who urged them to call police but said there was little else he or the church could do."
  — from a police report described in East Valley Tribune article, 2004
  • Roy Hunt (1959 – ) was a Mormon church member in Maricopa County, Arizona; former city manager in Snowflake and Holbrook and a public finance banker at the National Bank of Arizona; accused of child sexual abuse in 2004; pleaded guilty in 2005 to a reduced charge; sentenced to prison in Arizona in 2005
  • Alleged failure to report
  • Convicted: 2005,
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Pleaded guilty, Prison,
  • Alleged church actions: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
  • View report »
• Kay Leroi Walker
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  "Nobody was traumatized by this. It wasn't like anybody was raped ... it's not like anybody has had to go to therapy for five years."
  — Hancock County, Illinois State's Attorney Karen Andrews, defending her decision to reduce felony charges against Walker to misdemeanor battery, 2004
  Despite having at least eight victims of alleged sexual assault, Walker was able to enter an Alford plea to reduced misdemeanor battery charges
  • Kay Walker (1942 – ) was a Mormon church member and Nauvoo Inn owner in Nauvoo, Illinois; charged with sexually abusing his employees; entered an Alford plea in 2004, resulting in a conviction while maintaining his innocence before the court; January 2024: lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho
  • Convicted: 2004,
  • Positions: Missionary,
  • Criminal case(s): Alford plea, Convicted, Found guilty, Probation,
  • View report »
• David Shwenke Tupou
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  • David Tupou was a Mormon church member in California; accused of sexual abuse
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Unknown result,
  • View report »
• Shane Ross
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  • Shane Ross was an LDS church member and public school teacher in Salem, Oregon; accused of child sexual abuse of a former student; convicted in 2018 and sentenced to prison
  • Convicted: 2018,
  • Positions: Unknown position,
  • Criminal case(s): Convicted, Prison,
  • View report »

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