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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, is a Christian denomination that was founded in the United States. Most of their members and leaders reside in Utah which are subject to their laws. [1]
A significant sexual abuse case involves former Church leader Sterling Van Wagenen, who was sentenced to prison in 2020 for sexually abusing a young girl in the 1990s. The Church issued a statement condemning Van Wagenen’s actions, but some have criticized the Church for not doing enough to prevent the abuse from occurring in the first place. [2]
Furthermore, another example is in 2019, a man was arrested and charged with sexually abusing two children at an LDS Church in Gilbert, Arizona. The LSD member had been a volunteer at the church for several years and had been in contact with the children as part of his church duties. The abuse occurred in 2018 when the children were 7 and 8 years old. The police report stated that he had inappropriately touched the children during church activities and had shown them pornographic images on his phone. [3]
Due to the fact that Utah law do not mandate church leaders to report sexual abuse, many other instances have been covered up. Additionally, the value of “forgiveness” leads many victims of abuse who are a part of the LDS to try and move on without legal action.
Here at the Michael Brady Lynch Firm, we handle Clergy Sexual abuse cases. If you or a loved one has been sexually abused, please give us a call at 888-585-5970
Date: March 15, 2023
Author: Brandon Salter
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/12/us/mormon-church-fast-facts/index.html
[2] https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/07/09/child-sex-abuse-case-ends/
[3] https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-provides-further-details-about-arizona-abuse-case
