16 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

      • Michael Antrobus was a former Mormon branch president (similar to a bishop) and bishop in Connersville, Indiana for 10 years (approximately 1974-84); convicted of child sexual abuse charges (9 counts, 6 victims) in Sacramento County, California in 2021-2022; sentenced to 8 years in San Quentin State Prison; died by suicide in prison in September 2023; allegedly had at least a dozen victims
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • Mathew Arrington was a Mormon church member and foster child advocate in Arizona; found guilty of child sexual abuse; sentenced in 2021 to 15 years in prison
      • Scott Darrington was a former LDS bishop and assistant school principal in Fallon, Nevada; convicted of possession of child pornography, spent a year in prison
      • Larry Deutsch 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
      • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
      • John Doe was an LDS church member in Adelaide, Australia; sentenced in 2021 to 10 years in prison for child sexual abuse
      • Melvin Hansen was a Mormon church member, school music teacher and former Tabernacle Choir member in Utah; convicted in 2021 in Utah of first degree felony attempted aggravated child sexual abuse; also accused of sexual abuse in Arizona
      • Elwood Haws was an employee and vice president of an LDS church-owned trust company in Utah; charged in 2020 with 13 second degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (related to possession of child pornography); admitted that he viewed child pornography 3-4 times a week over a 3-4 year span; in 2021, pleaded guilty to three counts and was sentenced to 180 days in jail; in 2023, violated probation
      • Hayden Hunter was a Mormon missionary in California; he was from Pleasant Grove, Utah; arrested in 2020 for distribution of child sexual abuse material (child pornography) while on his mission; convicted of possession of CSAM in 2021
      • Spencer Kartchner was an LDS church member in Utah; convicted of sex crimes in 2009 and 2021
      • Eric Knight was an LDS church member; former physician; pleaded guilty in 2021 in New Hampshire to two felony counts of second-degree assault in a plea deal that would allow him to get his medical license back and avoid the sex offender registry
      • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
      • Matthew Shepard was an LDS church member in Salt Lake City, Utah; In October of 2019 chatted with online 13year old persona to try and meet for sex; found guilty to 3 counts of entice a minor by internet or text; currently in jail in Duchesne, Utah
      • Jason Smith was an LDS church member in Indiana; in 2019, confessed to sexually abusing a child; pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2021 to 728 days of probation for battery against a child under 14 years old
      • Church discipline: No action,