Floodlit.org presents a timeline of Mormon sex abuse-related events, policies and responses. This is a work in progress. Last updated: June 13, 2025.
Please tell us about anything you’ve found regarding the LDS church’s history of dealing with sex abuse allegations.
We’ve highlighted certain event types as follows:
- Floodlit.org reports
- Lawsuits
1830 | 1848
1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025
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Chronology of events related to sexual abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1830
April 6 The Mormon church, led by Joseph Smith, is founded in western New York as “the Church of Christ.”
1848
1848 Benjamin Covey is excommunicated for having sexual intercourse with two girls “less than Twelve years of age” who are his foster daughters; he is rebaptized and soon thereafter is made bishop of the Salt Lake City Twelfth Ward from 22 February 1849 until 1856.
1975
Coming soon.
1976
Coming soon.
1977
Coming soon.
1978
Coming soon.
1979
1979 The LDS church publishes a revised edition of a doctrinal manual, “Gospel Principles,” in which the following teachings about chastity, rape, sexual assault and sexual sin are represented:
- Gospel Principles, 1979, pp. 238-39
- Gospel Principles, 1979, pp. 240-41
- Gospel Principles, 1979, pp. 242-43
1980
Coming soon.
1981
Coming soon.
1982
Coming soon.
1983
Coming soon.
1984
July 5Lawsuit Maricopa County, Arizona – lawsuit filed against Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by Richard Kenneth Ray – settled in 1990. This is the earliest sex abuse lawsuit against the church documented by Floodlit. However, in 2012, Paul Rytting, the church’s risk management director, declares under penalty of perjury that “the first lawsuit against the Church relating to sexual abuse was brought in 1989.”
1985
1985 – The LDS church publishes a booklet titled Child Abuse: Help for Ecclesiastical Leaders.
1985 – In a general conference address, LDS church president Gordon Hinckley condemns “a plague of child abuse spreading across the world.”
1986
1986Lawsuit Maricopa County, Arizona – lawsuit filed against Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by Trent Rogers – unknown result.
1987
1987Lawsuit Multnomah County, Oregon – three lawsuit filed against Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by Timur Dykes.
1988
Coming soon.
1989
1989Lawsuit Utah – lawsuit filed against Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by Steven LeRoy Hammock – in 1997, a federal judge awards $150,000 in damages to the victim.
1989Lawsuit Oregon – lawsuit filed against Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by James Francis Hogan – settled out of court (unknown amount).
1990
Coming soon.
1991
1990 Mormon apostle Thomas Monson speaks about child abuse and domestic violence during the October 1991 LDS general conference. He says, “When you and I know of [child abuse] and fail to take action to eradicate it, we become part of the problem. We share part of the guilt. We experience part of the punishment.”
1990 A 1990 memo by Elder Glenn L. Pace on ritualistic sexual abuse is leaked to the press via Jerald and Sandra Tanner.
1992
April 1992 LDS General Conference: Richard Scott, apostle, speaks about abuse.
During his conference talk, Scott says:
I solemnly testify that when another’s acts of violence, perversion, or incest hurt you terribly, against your will, you are not responsible and you must not feel guilty. You may be left scarred by abuse, but those scars need not be permanent.
[…]
If you are now or have in the past been abused, seek help now. Perhaps you distrust others and feel that there is no reliable help anywhere.
[…]
There is available to you a priesthood leader, normally a bishop, at times a member of the stake presidency. They can build a bridge to greater understanding and healing. Joseph Smith taught, “A man can do nothing for himself unless God direct him in the right way; and the Priesthood is for that purpose.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938], p. 364).
Talk to your bishop in confidence. His calling allows him to act as an instrument of the Lord in your behalf. He can provide a doctrinal foundation to guide you to recovery. An understanding and application of eternal law will provide the healing you require. He has the right to be inspired of the Lord in your behalf. He can use the priesthood to bless you.
Your bishop can help you identify trustworthy friends to support you. He will help you regain self-confidence and self-esteem to begin the process of renewal. When abuse is extreme, he can help you identify appropriate protection and professional treatment consistent with the teachings of the Savior.
[…]
Healing best begins with your sincere prayer asking your Father in Heaven for help. That use of your agency allows divine intervention. When you permit it, the love of the Savior will soften your heart and break the cycle of abuse that can transform a victim into an aggressor. Adversity, even when caused willfully by others’ unrestrained appetite, can be a source of growth when viewed from the perspective of eternal principle (see D&C 122:7).
The victim must do all in his or her power to stop the abuse. Most often, the victim is innocent because of being disabled by fear or the power or authority of the offender. At some point in time, however, the Lord may prompt a victim to recognize a degree of responsibility for abuse. Your priesthood leader will help assess your responsibility so that, if needed, it can be addressed. Otherwise the seeds of guilt will remain and sprout into bitter fruit. Yet no matter what degree of responsibility, from absolutely none to increasing consent, the healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ can provide a complete cure (see D&C 138:1–4). Forgiveness can be obtained for all involved in abuse (see A of F 1:3). Then comes a restoration of self-respect, self-worth, and a renewal of life.
As a victim, do not waste effort in revenge or retribution against your aggressor. Focus on your responsibility to do what is in your power to correct. Leave the handling of the offender to civil and Church authorities.
[…]
You don’t know what abusers may have suffered as victims when innocent. The way to repentance must be kept open for them. Leave the handling of aggressors to others. As you experience an easing of your own pain, full forgiveness will come more easily.
You cannot erase what has been done, but you can forgive (see D&C 64:10). Forgiveness heals terrible, tragic wounds, for it allows the love of God to purge your heart and mind of the poison of hate. It cleanses your consciousness of the desire for revenge. It makes place for the purifying, healing, restoring love of the Lord.
[…]
Bitterness and hatred are harmful. They produce much that is destructive. They postpone the relief and healing you yearn for. Through rationalization and self-pity, they can transform a victim into an abuser. Let God be the judge—you cannot do it as well as he can.
To be counseled to just forget abuse is not helpful. You need to understand the principles which will bring healing. I repeat, most often that comes through an understanding priesthood leader who has inspiration and the power of the priesthood to bless you.
Caution
I caution you not to participate in two improper therapeutic practices that may cause you more harm than good. They are: (1) excessive probing into every minute detail of your past experiences, particularly when this involves penetrating dialogue in group discussion; and (2) blaming the abuser for every difficulty in your life.
While some discovery is vital to the healing process, the almost morbid probing into details of past acts, long buried and mercifully forgotten, can be shattering. There is no need to pick at healing wounds to open them and cause them to fester. The Lord and his teachings can help you without destroying self-respect.
There is another danger. Detailed leading questions that probe your past may unwittingly trigger thoughts that are more imagination or fantasy than reality. They could lead to condemnation of another for acts that were not committed. I know of cases, likely few in number, where such therapy has caused great injustice to the innocent from unwittingly stimulated accusations that were later proven false. Memory, particularly adult memory of childhood experiences, is fallible. Remember, false accusation is also a sin.
Stated more simply, if someone intentionally poured a bucket of filth on your carpet, would you invite the neighbors to determine each ingredient that contributed to the ugly stain? Of course not. With the help of an expert, you would privately restore its cleanliness.
Likewise, the repair of damage inflicted by abuse should be done privately, confidentially, with a trusted priesthood leader and, where needed, the qualified professional he recommends. There must be sufficient discussion of the general nature of abuse to allow you to be given appropriate counsel and to prevent the aggressor from committing more violence. Then, with the help of the Lord, you can bury the past.
[…]
Please, don’t suffer more. […] Decide now to talk to your bishop.
1992: The Ensign publishes a first-person account by a female survivor of sexual abuse.
1992: Deseret Book publishes Blaine M. Yorgason’s novel Secrets.
1992: April Daniels and Carol Scott publish Paperdolls: Healing from Sexual Abuse in Mormon Neighborhoods.

LDS Church Administration Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
1993
1993: Deseret Book releases an audiotape by Cheiko Okazaki, Healing from Sexual Abuse: Eight Messages for Survivors, Family, and Leaders. It also publishes Confronting Abuse: An LDS Perspective on Understanding and Healing Emotional, Physical, Sexual, Psychological, and Spiritual Abuse. The Church settles a civil suit in California for “millions of dollars.”
1994
1994: Former General Authority George Lee pleads guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a child. President Hinckley speaks against physical and sexual abuse during the October General Conference. At a leadership meeting in Calgary, Alberta, President Hinckley says that sex abuse cases “are costing the Church millions of dollars in lawyers’ fees and settlements.”
1995
1995: The Church produces Responding to Abuse: Help for
Ecclesiastical Leaders (a revised version of their 1985 guide) and sets up a telephone helpline for Church leaders faced with child abuse cases.
1996
1996: “Adult Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse: The Case of Mormon Women” is published in Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work. The first volume of the Case Reports of the Mormon Alliance is published. Marion Smith publishes in the Event, a local Salt Lake weekly, an investigative report chronicling 16 cases of Mormon-related sexual abuse.
1997
Coming soon.
1998
1998: A new Church Handbook of Instructions is published with updated policies for dealing with child abuse. One of the changes requires annotation of the abuser’s membership record. A Texas jury awards $4 million to a boy molested at age eight by Church member Charles Blome.
1999
1999: The Church is named the 1999 “Child Advocate of the Year” by Prevent Child Abuse Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune re- ports that “more than forty plaintiffs have alleged church officials knew of molestations or ignored warning signs and failed to alert either victims’ families or authorities.”
2000
Coming soon.
2001
LDS leaders settle a child sexual abuse lawsuit for $3 million.
A North Carolina grand jury indicts Matthew Nash on twenty felony sex offenses committed while he was an LDS missionary.
2002
LDS church publishes a 12-minute video – Protect the Child: Responding to Child Abuse giving instructions to local church leaders about responding to possible child abuse and abusers in their congregations.
2002-07-02: The Salt Lake Tribune publishes a quote from LDS church spokesman Mike Otterson: “We are determined to pursue child abuse in the church where it exists, and we have an unsurpassed record in doing it.” Otterson was responding to news that a lawsuit had said Mormon leaders knew since 1975 that Mitchell Blake Young was abusing kids (10+ victims). Multiple alleged coverups, probation violation.
Salt Lake Tribune, 2002-07-02, page B4
“The secrecy with which we shroud the victim is nothing to the secrecy with which we shroud the perpetrator. […] He has committed a crime which he must answer for. […] I implore you not to shield perpetrators.” – Chieko Okazaki, “Healing From Sexual Abuse,” Oct. 23, 2002 at Brigham Young University
2003
Coming soon.
2004
Coming soon.
2005
Coming soon.
2006
Coming soon.
2007
Coming soon.
2008
Coming soon.
2009
Coming soon.
2010
2011
Coming soon.
2012
Paul Rytting, the church’s risk management director, declares under penalty of perjury that “the first lawsuit against the Church relating to sexual abuse was brought in 1989.” However, in June 2025, Floodlit reports that a July 5, 1984 Maricopa County, Arizona lawsuit was filed against the Mormon church regarding sexual abuse by Richard Kenneth Ray.
2013
Coming soon.
2014
Coming soon.
2015
Coming soon.
2016
“I am requesting a reduction in sentence so that I can have the possibility to provide for my family. I am committed to them as well as to the Church of which I have been a member for twenty-six (26) years and was leading as bishop at the time of arrest.” – letter to a Texas judge by convicted sex offender and former Mormon bishop Raymond Casillas
2017
Coming soon.
2018
The Mormon church settles a West Virginia sex abuse lawsuit for $32 million. The accused, Michael Jensen, is in prison serving a sentence of 35 to 75 years.
2019
Coming soon.
2020
Coming soon.
2021
Coming soon.
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2022
- January – former BYU professor charged with additional counts of sexual abuse. He was an LDS church member and BYU professor in Provo, Utah; charged with sexually abusing three students; entered a plea bargain in May 2023 in which he agreed to plead no contest to three class A misdemeanor charges of sexual battery, complete 24 months of probation, do 50 hours of community service, and take a sexual boundaries course; sentenced in June 2023 according to the plea deal.
- April – Former bishop is sentenced for sexual abuse – was a bishop and dentist in Utah; also was a college professor; accused of nearly 60 years of sex abuse of multiple children; found guilty of attempted aggravated child sexual abuse; sentenced to up to 35 years in prison.
- June – former LDS primary teacher pleads guilty to sexually abusing a girl from his ward
- August – Former Utah state trooper, an alleged sexual abuser of a 13-year-old girl, dies
- August – Major AP News story about Arizona sex abuse case and alleged Mormon church coverup
- August 17 – Mormon church official statement in response to the AP story on the Paul Adams case: “[T]here can be no mincing of words, no hint of apathy and no tolerance for any suggestion that we are neglectful or not doing enough on the issue of child abuse.”
- August – Key ruling regarding $250 million proposed payment by LDS church in Boy Scouts case
- August – San Diego LDS church coverup story told by sexual abuse victims (daughters of the accused)
- September – former San Francisco Bay Area lawyer charged with additional child sex crimes
- September – former LDS bishop and West Bountiful, UT mayor arrested on accusations of child sexual abuse
- September – former Utah Assistant Attorney General arrested on child pornography charges
- September – First public arrest made in Utah ritualistic abuse investigation
- November – former elders quorum president sentenced to 30 years in prison for child sexual abuse
- November – former Church website music composer sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for sexually abusing preteen girls
- December – former Idaho city councilman signs plea agreement indicating he will admit to lawd conduct with a minor
- December – former Michigan scout leader sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison for child sexual assault
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2023
January 2023
- Case report – Mormon church settles for $1.1 million in a civil lawsuit brought by a man who was sexually abused as a preschooler by a teenage volunteer in his Tacoma, Washington ward.
February 2023
- Case report – a former LDS church youth leader in Utah pleads guilty to four counts of felony child sexual abuse. Police say he paid a victim thousands of dollars not to tell anyone. He is later sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
March 2023
- Case report – a former Mormon bishop and former mayor of West Bountiful, Utah is sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse. He allegedly confessed to multiple LDS bishops about his sexual criminal behavior, but was not reported to police by any of them. Some of his sex crimes occurred years after his initial alleged confession to a Mormon bishop.
- Case report – a Utah Mormon man who helped raise 54 foster children is charged with forcible sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl.
- Case report – a former Mormon bishopric counselor and Idaho city councilman is sentenced to prison after sexually abusing a girl for 7 years.
April 2023
- Case report – a federal court in New Mexico grants partial judgment in favor of the LDS church, saying that priests’ sexual misdeeds do NOT fall within the scope of “church employment.” The alleged sexual abuse occurred in the 1960s by a Mormon branch president (Las Vegas, New Mexico Branch).
- Case report – an LDS church member and former Primary worker in the Redmond, Washington area admits to investigators to sexually abusing around six to eight young boys over a period of multiple years. Some of the alleged child sexual abuse occurred during Sunday sacrament meetings, in view of multiple adults.
- Case report – A California jury awards a sexual abuse victim $2.28 billion in a default verdict against her stepfather who she claimed had abused her for years, starting when she was 6 years old. The LDS church settled in December 2022 for $995,000, which resulted in it being released from being a defendant in the lawsuit. During the abuser’s sentencing, only one adult (not LDS) sat with the victim. Several LDS members, including her mother and bishop, sat on the abuser’s side.
May 2023
- Case report – a Mormon church member in Utah is charged with multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor on suspicion of his involvement in sex tourism and distribution of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM (commonly referred to as child pornography, or CP).
June 2023
- Case report – an LDS church member and former BYU professor in Provo, Utah is sentenced according to a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead no contest to three class A misdemeanor charges of sexual battery, complete 24 months of probation, do 50 hours of community service, and take a sexual boundaries course. He had been accused by three former students of sexually abusing them.
- Case report – an LDS church member in Idaho was sentenced to 8 to 18 years in prison for sexual abuse of an underage victim. He sexually assaulted his victim while his family was at Mormon church meetings.
July 2023
- Case report – former Mormon missionary arrested in Idaho and charged with rape of a minor. He was caught in a sting operation in December 2022 in Virginia while on his mission, and accused of soliciting explicit pictures and video from a person he believed to be an 11-year-old girl. We spoke with a source familiar with the case, who told us that the defendant’s Mormon leaders failed to inform his congregation about the reason he was sent home early from his mission.
- Case report – $10.3 million lawsuit filed against former Mormon “ministering brother” (home teacher) and youth leader awaiting trial for child sex abuse in Virginia.
August 2023
- Case report – a retired Mormon police officer and former Utah Valley University adjunct professor in American Fork, Utah was arrested and charged with 11 felony counts related to child sexual exploitation. He allegedly tried recording a 13-year-old girl showering. Investigators found 300+ child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images/videos on his devices.
- Case report – an LDS church member and president of the National Association of Realtors resigns after accusations of sexual misconduct. He is a former Mormon ward young men’s leader in Utah and bishopric counselor in a BYU-Provo ward.
September 2023
- Case report – In Colorado, a former Mormon stake president and deputy district attorney is charged with felony sexual assault on a child by a someone in a position of trust. A ward bishopric in his LDS stake sends its members an email about it. He is a grandson of deceased Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie.
October 2023
- Case report – Tim Ballard is publicly accused of sexual misconduct in multiple civil lawsuits.
- Case report – A Uintah County, Utah attorney is charged with voyeurism and stalking after allegedly filming his female employees in his law firm’s bathroom.
- Case report – An Idaho LDS man who counseled sexual trauma survivors pleads guilty to felony sexual abuse or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He had admitted to using a nonverbal adult in his care as a “sexual object.”
November 2023
- Case report – Arizona court cites clergy-penitent privilege as it dismisses a child sex abuse lawsuit filed by abuse victims against the Mormon church.
- Case report – A former Mormon bishop and therapist in Utah is arrested and charged with sexually assaulting up to a dozen men during therapy sessions dealing with their homosexuality. The exmormon subreddit played a role in gathering information leading up to his arrest.
- Case report – A former Mormon bishop and stake presidency member is sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse.
- Case report – Story breaks that a known sexual predator assigned to work with Mormon youth in Georgia had been convicted not only in Utah, but also in Scotland.
- Case report – Several sexual abuse victims hold a press conference to speak publicly about their experiences with Tim Ballard, a prominent Utah Mormon and activist against human trafficking.
December 2023
- Case report – The Associated Press reports that the Mormon church paid a sexual abuse victim $300,000 to not use her story as the basis of a lawsuit against it, and to keep the payment secret. We’ve spoken with multiple sources familiar with this case.
2024
15+ Mormon sex crime convictions in 2024
January 2024
Former LDS bishopric counselor Cortney Andrew is sentenced in Utah to 60 days in jail with work release. The victim, a teen girl, told detectives she began texting with him to receive counseling. His texts then turned inappropriate and sexually graphic.
Tim Ballard, anti-trafficking advocate, faces four new sexual assault charges.
Pennsylvania stake president Rhett Hintze is charged with failure to report sexual abuse of a child. Related case: Shawn Gooden
FLOODLIT.org launches a “failure to report” database to document instances where LDS church leaders allegedly kept sexual abuse allegations secret from law enforcement authorities or failed to help abuse victims.
February 2024
Ken Richens, a former hospital CIO in Utah, pleads guilty to sex crimes.
FLOODLIT.org announces that it has documented at least 41 ongoing criminal cases involving Mormon defendants accused of sex crimes, including child sexual abuse.
West Linn, Oregon city council releases documents on an independent investigation into how its police department investigated former doctor David Farley, an LDS church member accused of sexual assault by over 200 victims. He was never charged. Report says lead detective was unqualified.
Former Colorado stake president David McConkie (a grandson of Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie) pleads not guilty to child sex abuse charges, despite a plea deal offer. He is a former deputy district attorney. A police PC affidavit says he confessed sexual abuse of a child to an LDS leader in 2008. That leader’s name is redacted in the affidavit.
A Utah woman sues LDS nurse practitioner Derrick Pickering for alleged sexual assault during cosmetic procedure. Three other women had reported (two to Utah Valley University campus police, one to Draper police) that he had touched them during medical procedures in inappropriate ways.
March 2024
FLOODLIT.org announces that it has documented 100 “failure to report” cases so far, where Mormon clergy allegedly failed to report sexual abuse allegations to police or legal authorities.
In Heber City, Utah, Mitchell McKee, a licensed marriage and family therapist with experience helping Mormon clients address “pre and post mission sexual issues,” is arrested on suspicion of child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of a minor. He is also a retired Utah State Highway Patrol officer.
In Idaho, Mormon church member Eric Jones is sentenced to two to 20 years in prison for “felony battery with intent to commit lewd conduct with a minor.” He tearfully tells the court he is an avid church-goer and has finished a 12-part addiction recovery course.
Former Mormon bishop John Goodrich is arrested in Virginia on suspicion of child sexual abuse, three months after the Associated Press reported on an LDS church $300,000 payment offer to the victim.
Former LDS missionary Kurt Vanwagoner is arrested in Centerville, Utah and charged with 10 felony counts of child sexual exploitation. He admitted to sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Police say he chatted online about secretly taking photos of women during LDS church meetings and recently worked with young men in his Mormon ward.
April 2024
South Jordan, Utah Mormon primary teacher Joseph Dunlop is charged with five felony counts related to child sexual abuse. According to a probable cause affidavit, he “told law enforcement that he wants to sexually abuse children and that children are not safe around him.”
Former LDS bishop and stake presidency counselor DeRon Olsen is sentenced in Washington to five years in prison for child sexual abuse over 15 years.
May 2024
Former Mormon missionary Calvin McGee is sentenced to prison in Idaho for sexual assault of a minor. During his LDS mission in Virginia, McGee also admitted on video to soliciting a minor. A family member of the Idaho victim told FLOODLIT a Boise bishop told young women leaders not to report sexual abuse of another child.
Former Teton County, Idaho sheriff’s deputy and Mormon church member Troy Dameron is sentenced to 15 days in jail (with work release) and two years probation for indecent exposure to a 911 dispatcher during work. His attorney praised Dameron’s participation in an LDS church 12-step program for porn/sex addiction.
Former Mormon bishop Tevita Mounga is arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl who was walking home from school.
June 2024
Former Utah OB/GYN David Broadbent is criminally charged with forcible sexual abuse, more than two years after initial accusations by women (eventually over 200) that he sexually assaulted them during “premarital exams” and other healthcare appointments.
Criminal charges are dropped against Mormon stake president Rhett Hintze after he was accused in January of failure to report child sexual abuse.
Former LDS scout leader and retired air traffic controller Alan Bassett is charged in Utah with nine felony counts of child sexual abuse. According to charging documents, he “admitted that he sexually abused many neighbor children while he was living in Davis County.”
Logan, Utah temple worker and former stake presidency member David Keller is charged with seven first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
Utah LDS church member Ruth Worthen is arrested and charged with 23 first-degree felonies related to child sex abuse, including prostituting kids. Some alleged abuse took place in a Mormon church bathroom. A family member was secretly recorded saying he saw her crimes in a vision but chose to “let it go.”
July 2024
In California, a newly filed civil lawsuit says the Mormon church failed to report sexual abuse by former ward executive secretary Craig Harward. In 2004, Harward, a former elementary school “teacher of the year” in Santa Clara County, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for molesting multiple children.
August 2024
Nearly 100 civil lawsuits are filed in California against the Mormon church, alleging sexual abuse by a church leader or member and failure by LDS church leaders to protect victims.
September 2024
FLOODLIT.org announces that it has surpassed 1,000 documented cases of sexual abuse or other sex crimes allegedly perpetrated by Mormon leaders or church members.
Chubbuck, Idaho LDS young men’s leader Virgil Larson is arrested. Police say that from 2023-24, he molested at least five boys he led at church, ages 12-15. Police report says Kirton McConkie (LDS law firm) contacted Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare, which told local police in July.
A new civil lawsuit claims an LDS bishop in Arizona secretly encouraged a relationship between a 16-year-old girl and a former LDS bishop in Missouri, and that an LDS counselor (church employee) kept the abuse secret. The former Missouri bishop, Larry Deutsch, is in federal prison.
October 2024
FLOODLIT.org breaks the story about the nearly 100 California civil lawsuits filed beginning in August.
November 2024
A volunteer indexing project launches at FLOODLIT.org to catalog information related to criminal and civil cases involving allegations of sexual abuse by Mormon leaders or church members.
The FLOODLIT.org database of accused individuals surpasses 4,000 published case reports, after adding information about approximately 3,000 reports of sexual abuse by former Boy Scouts who said a Mormon scout leader abused them.
A newly filed Illinois lawsuit says a Mormon bishop, Douglas Holyoak, sexually assaulted an underage girl in 2000 in his office when she reported sexual harassment by other youth. She then told a stake presidency counselor, who attempted to gaslight her, according to the suit. He later became a stake and mission president.
December 2024
A KUTV news article is altered within hours of publication, removing references to the Mormon church after initially reporting that LDS “temple prep” class teacher Paul Spencer was criminally charged with multiple felonies related to arranging to meet a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl for sexual assault in Lehi, Utah.
2025
May 6: Floodlit report: Where are the letters? Alleged sex abuse coverup by Mormon First Presidency
May 31: Floodlit report: We just found $1,268,835.62 more in Mormon church child sex abuse costs
June 2: Floodlit report: Floodlit.org has discovered another alleged coverup of child sexual abuse by Mormon leaders
June 10: Floodlit report: Findings re: Mormon official’s declaration on church knowledge of sexual abuse
June 11: Floodlit report: Uncovering the Mormon Church’s Knowledge of Child Sexual Abuse: The 1984 Lawsuit
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