67 matching Mormon sex abuse cases

  • Crime years: 1970s
    • Larren Arnold was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Idaho; in 1984, arrested for lewd conduct with a minor under 16; convicted, received a five-year suspended sentence and three years probation; Mormon leaders allegedly covered up Arnold's abuse; the Mormon church made a $50,000 settlement payment to a victim in 2001, and a payment to another victim in 2012; died in 2017
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $50,000
    • Eric Avant was a Mormon cub scout leader in Norfolk, Virginia; convicted in 1979 of sodomizing an 11-year-old; Mormon leaders allegedly knew of his sexual attraction to young boys but did not check police records; convicted in 1988 of 14 counts of aggravated sexual battery and sentenced to 26 years in prison for molesting nine boys; had as many as 41 alleged victims; the church settled a lawsuit in 1992
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $2,000,000
    • George Barnett was a Mormon church member in Cerritos, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the Mormon church of sexually abusing a child as part of a sex trafficking ring, and of covering up the abuse; the plaintiff said she was abused over 200 times at the Cerritos LDS stake center from 1979 to 1983
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Robert Berchtold was a Mormon church member in Idaho; sexually abused a child; in 1986, was found guilty of rape of a child and spent one year in jail
    • Arthur Bishop 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
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Joseph Bishop was a Mormon church member and president of the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center (MTC) in the 1980s; allegedly sexually abused multiple sister missionaries; not criminally charged because the statute of limitations had expired (in 1984, the legal deadline in Utah for filing a rape charge was four years); civil lawsuit was dismissed after an agreement by the plaintiff and the LDS church
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Carlfred Broderick was a Mormon stake president in Cerritos, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the Mormon church of sexually abusing a child as part of a sex trafficking ring, and of covering up the abuse; the plaintiff said she was abused over 200 times at the Cerritos LDS stake center from 1979 to 1983
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • William Bruhn was an LDS church member and civic leader in Utah; accused of masturbating in a public restroom; convicted
    • Max Cheatham was an LDS church member in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado; accused of sexual abuse; convicted in Colorado of child sexual abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated, Rebaptized,
    • Dennis Collins was an LDS church member in Washington; pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse
    • Luke Dalton was a Mormon church member; admitted to sexually abusing dozens of boys over decades in Ohio, Montana and Utah; arrested in 1997 in Utah for sexually abusing his only son; convicted and sentenced to prison; served 3.5 years in prison
    • James Denos was a former LDS bishop and junior high school teacher in Utah; previously lived and served as a Mormon bishop in California; sentenced in 2002 to a minimum of 20 years in a Utah state prison for sexually abusing four minor girls living in Utah; allegedly began molesting kids as early as 1950
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Alan Dunlap was a Mormon church member in Fresno, California; pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse
    • Edwin Dyer was a Mormon church member and scoutmaster in central Oregon; accused of sexual abuse; allegedly molested as many as 15 boys over a 28-year period; shot and killed in 1986 by one of his victims; the Mormon church settled out of court for $200,000 with one victim
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $200,000
    • Jayne Furness was a Mormon church member and boy scout leader in Arroyo Grande, California; accused of sex abuse; found guilty of voyeurism charges in or before 1972, and found guilty of sexual abuse charges in 1976; sentenced in 1976 or 1977 to prison; died in 1987
    • Billy Hagen was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Idaho; accused of sexual abuse; convicted, sentenced to prison; died in 2005
    • Dustin Hall was a Mormon church member and Boy Scout leader in Washington; accused of sexually abusing boys in the Shelton Ward near Olympia; a lawsuit filed against the Mormon church in 2009 claimed church leaders knew Hall posed a risk to boys but failed to prevent him from working with them
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Kenneth Harper was an LDS church member in California; accused of sexual abuse; convicted
    • James Hogan was a Mormon church member and scout leader in Oregon; in 1989, was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse; released in 1994; in 2011, a victim filed a civil lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, seeking $5.2 million; the Mormon church settled with two victims for $800,000 and $75,000
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $875,000
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Allan Howe was an LDS church member and Utah politician; accused of a sex crime; convicted
    • Gary Jones was a Mormon church member in Cerritos, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the Mormon church of sexually abusing a child as part of a sex trafficking ring, and of covering up the abuse; the plaintiff said she was abused over 200 times at the Cerritos LDS stake center from 1979 to 1983
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • George Koford was a Mormon bishop in Cerritos, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the Mormon church of sexually abusing a child as part of a sex trafficking ring, and of covering up the abuse; the plaintiff said she was abused over 200 times at the Cerritos LDS stake center from 1979 to 1983
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Arthur Krigbaum was an LDS church member and scout leader in Idaho; accused of sexual abuse
    • Jack Loholt was an LDS church member and Boy scout leader in Kent, Washington; accused of sexual abuse in the 1970s; court records show that two Mormon bishops knew about the abuse allegations but did not tell police; the Mormon church was court-ordered in 2006 to pay $87,500 to one victim after it settled with three others for undisclosed sums
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LDS church payment: $87,500
    • Dennis Loveless was a Mormon church member in Farmington, Utah; accused of sexual abuse in 1977 and 1984; sentenced to prison both times; died in 2016
    • Franklin Mathias was a Mormon church member and Boy scout leader in Oregon; had a career as a schoolteacher; accused in 1987 of sexual abuse; sentenced in 1988 to four years in prison for molesting a child; he said that he had 242 victims over a 30-year period
    • Timothy McCleve was a former Mormon bishop in Harrisville, Utah when he was charged with sexually abusing three children; some of the abuse took place while he was bishop; sentenced in 2008 to up to 30 years in prison for child sexual abuse; in 2024, charged in Utah with threatening a witness in a parole violation investigation
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Robert Metcalf was a Mormon in California, Arizona; convicted of child sexual abuse in 1974; sentenced in 1979 to six years in prison; excommunicated; after prison, was rebaptized, made a scout leader and allegedly molested a scout on a campout in about 1987, according to a 1990 civil lawsuit against the LDS church; sentenced in Arizona in 1989 to 37 years in prison; 2020 lawsuit vs. LDS church
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Leroy Richins was a Mormon church member in Utah; accused of sexual abuse
    • Nefi Rubalcava was a Mormon bishop in Norwalk/Cerritos in southern California; accused of child sexual abuse in two lawsuits filed against the Mormon church in 2025; he was the foster father of one of his alleged victims and the bishop of both of them; he allegedly participated in a sex trafficking ring involving at least one other bishop and a stake president
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Vernon Sanford was an LDS church member in San Diego, California; died in 2000; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse, along with his son, Vernon Sanford Jr; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church; the alleged abuse occurred between 1961 and 1970; the Sanfords were the plaintiff's LDS home teachers
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Vernon Sanford was an LDS church member in San Diego, California; died in 2000; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse, along with his father, Vernon Sanford Sr; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church; the alleged abuse occurred between 1961 and 1970; the Sanfords were the plaintiff's LDS home teachers
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Orin Searle was an LDS church member in Ogden, Utah; accused of sexual abuse in 2013 but was deemed incompetent to stand trial; a victim said that Searle's predatory behavior began as early as the late 1950s, and that several family members, and multiple members of the LDS 44th Ward (Mount Ogden Stake), knew that Searle was a child molester but did nothing to stop him; died in 2014
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Frank Selas was an former childrens TV host/entertainer in California who joined the LDS church in the 1990s; pleaded guilty to one count of indecent behavior with a child; the crime took place in the 1970s
    • Michael Simms was a Latter-day Saints (LDS) church member, organist and music teacher in Oregon; accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy about 100 times between 1974 and 1976
    • Church discipline: Excommunicated,
    • Stewart Singley was an LDS church member in Ohio; convicted in 1975 of child molestation that occurred in 1974; in 1997, convicted and sentenced to one year in jail or prison; as of 2024, is a registered sex offender; lives in East Waterford, Pennsylvania
    • Michael Stillman was a Mormon Tabernacle Choir member and professional scouter with the Boy Scouts of America in Monroe, Sevier County, Utah; accused in 1989 of having sexually abused a boy between the ages of 13 and 15 in the mid-1970s; decided to resign as district scout executive as long as it did not imply guilt; was never reported to police or charged with a crime
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Larry Strain was a Mormon church member in Missouri; accused of sexual abuse
    • John Tholen was a Mormon church member; sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing children he babysat with his wife Judith Tholen, who also sexually abused them
    • Judith Tholen was a Mormon church member; sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing children she babysat with her husband John Tholen, who also sexually abused them
    • Jay Toombs was an LDS church member and private investigator in Benson, Cache Valley, Utah; accused of sexual abuse; allegations of his abuse were reportedly known to three LDS bishops and stake president Jerry Toombs (his older brother), who never reported it to police; convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Bruce Van Horn was a Mormon church member in Cerritos, California; accused in a 2025 lawsuit against the Mormon church of sexually abusing a child as part of a sex trafficking ring, and of covering up the abuse; the plaintiff said she was abused over 200 times at the Cerritos LDS stake center from 1979 to 1983
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • LaVar Withers was a Mormon and physician in Rexburg, Idaho; accused of sexually abusing at least 133 women and children as young as 13 years old over a period of 30 or more years; admitted to sexual abuse; in 1996, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery; sentenced to 30 to 60 days in jail and two years probation; the Mormon church placed him on probation and took his temple recommend; died in 2005
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Gary Woolstenhulme was a Mormon bishop in Imperial Beach, California in 1978; died in 2002; in 2024, accused in a civil lawsuit of child sexual abuse; the suit was one of 91 or more coordinated civil suits filed in California in 2024 against the Mormon church (plaintiff John Roe JB 65 - San Diego 24CU008107, CASD 3:24-cv-02349-AJB-MSB); allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in his office at church
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse
    • Orson Wright was a Mormon mission president in Sydney, Australia from 1978 to 1980; accused of grooming some of the sister missionaries in his care to be his polygamous wives; removed early from his mission assignment; LDS church leaders in Salt Lake City, Utah allegedly covered up the reasons for Wright's removal
    • Church officials allegedly failed to report abuse

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