A group of six families is suing the LDS church after claiming the church covered up child sex abuse of another member in West Virginia. The six families have nine children between them and all filed the lawsuit against The Corporation of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">At 10: the LDS Church headed to court facing multiple families who allege the church protected a known sexual abuser who abused many children because of its silence.</p>— Heidi Hatch (@tvheidihatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/tvheidihatch/status/941168710454165506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The LDS leaders are alleged to have known that one of their members, a man named Michael Jensen, was an active pedophile and covered up the abuse that went on for years. The case will go to trial in January. One plaintiff named Helen reported the abuse of her 4 and 6-year-old children to her bishop, the leader of her Martinsburg, West Virginia congregation, but because the abuser's mother was also the relief society president nothing was done about it.
Helen said, "My church family preached to me about forgiveness– that I needed to forgive him. How do you forgive something like that?" The abuse she alleges took place over the course of two months in 2008 according to court documents. Then, in January 2012, the children told their parents what Jensen had done.
She didn't immediately report the abuse to the police, a fact she says she regrets. "That is something that does eat at me. It is something that I wish that if I could go back and change, I would have done it differently," she said. "I felt if I couldn't even get these people that are supposed to have my family's best interest, why would a jury believe what happened?"
The abuser, Michael Jensen, was indicted for abusing other children in 2012. She says one of her sons testified at the trial but not about crimes against him. These 2012 charges were for abusing two children in 2007 when he made a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old boy perform oral sex on him while he was babysitting them.
Jensen was sentenced to 75 years in prison for the charges against the two boys in 2007. The lawsuit by the families of his other Mormon victims states, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day (sic) Saints knew that it had a sex offender in its midst as early as December 2004-January 2005, when Michael Jensen was charged in Provo, Utah, with felony sexual abuse of two girls and pled guilty to two sex offenses in the presence of his parents (who became Church leaders) and a Church bishop in Provo."
The lawsuit goes on to say the church is at fault because instead of warning others of Jensen, they covered up, minimized and denied" his abuse and "dangerous proclivities; sponsored false explanations when evidence of abuse surfaced; touted him as a trustworthy and exceptional member of the Church community."
Helen says she isn't looking for forgiveness, she wants justice, "And this is the only way I know how to do it,” she said. “The only way for [my son’s] voice to be heard and my voice to be heard and to force them to change their policies so that this doesn’t happen again."
While the church would not comment on Jensen specifically, they did issue this statement:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not tolerate abuse of any kind. We take seriously our role as a recognized national leader in ensuring that child abuse prevention efforts are in place and followed – as happened in this case. In fact, it was the Church that first encouraged the parents to report the abuse and then made their own report as a confirmation. While the Church is, and will always be, heartbroken about the terrible actions of this individual, we are thankful that he is behind bars, where he should be. We encourage parents to come forth immediately to authorities when they believe their child has been the subject of harm.
The Church cannot comment specifically on pending litigation, but will present a solid case reaffirming its commitment to not only keeping children safe, but also taking action when there is reason to believe that harm has occurred."
<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View 2016-07-22 Church Defendants' Response Brief (Reduced) on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/367139546/2016-07-22-Church-Defendants-Response-Brief-Reduced#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" >2016-07-22 Church Defendants' Response Brief (Reduced)</a> by <a title="View LarryDCurtis's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/274854353/LarryDCurtis#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" >LarryDCurtis</a> on Scribd</p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="2016-07-22 Church Defendants' Response Brief (Reduced)" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/367139546/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-1m9oMeVYCmxoyrsxMi7m&show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" scrolling="no" id="doc_16108" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<i>On Twitter:</i>
<a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction">@ErvinProduction</a>
Tips? Info? Send me a message!
Interested in your thoughts about a fugitive of 16 yrs becoming a church member. He stayed in our home fo113 days. Convicted pedophile. Church officials KNEW the day we took him in, but said NOTHING.He was with us 113 days. Interesting story. Contact me if you like.
[email protected]
I can believe they would act like that. As much as they preach being for the safety of children they just continue to let this all go on. I have my own horror story that lasted for many years, currently trying to figure out where to file suit. This won't ever really stop as long as churches and places like it protect them and not us.
I would appreciate any advice you can give me to get this suit filed. No idea where to start.
This now seems very relevant now that Mitt Romney went in favor of protecting pedophiles and kiddy porn criminals by voting YES for the supreme court judge who favors those criminals too. This shows for very dirty hands for all involved. This case happened several years ago and here we are in 2022.
No wonder they do it Joseph Smith their idol did it. They defend him and treat him like a God.
Thus, you are recommended that you must keep this point in mind while learning how to date online with hot females. So, you should keep this point in mind while revealing the advantages of trending online relationship options. Even there are plenty of paid relationship websites online that do fraud with individuals online. If you are assuming that you can quickly delight in relationship online even without paying a single penny, you require to alter your thinking process. Obviously, when you register for a fake relationship website, you might not be able to end up with the right relationship option. Always remember that without knowing the benefits and drawbacks of dating apps, you may not have the ability to make a right dating decision. AsianSingles is plain and straightforward, ideal for finding an Asian interlocutor for dating or language practice. Since web dating assists people finding desired people even without leaving their home, it remains in high demand these days.
Online dating is the hottest trend of this millennium however finding love online can be quite tough. But not all males are wary of the dos and do n'ts of online dating which is why they end up not successful and heartbroken. Since there are lots of scam relationship apps that might create a security concern for your gadget, you must be very conscious while downloading relationship apps online. You need to forget about an effective relationship experience if you are likewise doing the very same. The federal government can now buy platforms to remove what it considers to be false statements that are "against the public interest", and to post corrections. The interest of the American public, a strong sense of nationwide pride, the anti-communism environment of the McCarthy age, and the requirement for America to keep a technological edge and supremacy all integrated to develop the space race. Men like females with a sense of humor. Here, you can experience global dating for females and learn more about guys from every corner of the earth. It is observed that the majority of the modern males and females prefer choosing an online date. For example, if you are going to pick a dating site, you first require to validate whether it is popular among masses or not.
By going through a couple of genuine dating reviews about top dating websites online like coffee satisfies bagel evaluation, you can be able to make the right decision. However, there are people who assume that conventional dating alternatives like checking out bars and club are much better than contemporary date choices such as dating sites or apps like coffee fulfills bagel evaluation, but the main thing is appeal. The finest online dating app depends upon who you are, where you live, and what you're looking for. International dating online can also suggest you have concurred with another person that you're a couple through the Internet. Lover Whirl is the very best global dating app to talk worldwide. Dating securely, is obviously, a really crucial aspect to dating. There is an actually great buzz about dating on the web. These days, however, online chatroom for grownups likewise shows to be a powerful means of strategically targeting the adult customers, and there are quite a variety of chat tools that can be quickly set up to any site that zeroes in on the adult demographics.
One of the biggest disadvantages of dating online is that there are lots of fake or fraud relationship websites to choose. Since a relationship via a site is basically confidential for the preliminary period, many people fret about not knowing the individual all right. Without understanding about the newest dating trends, you may not have the ability to make your dating undertaking a fantastic experience. The essential factors behind this scenario are that online dating assists contemporary individuals conserving their effort and time. If you are planning to date online, you first need to learn about trending online dating alternatives like coffee meets bagel review. If you wish to make your dating venture a successful journey, you first need to reveal premium dating features. If you do not desire to get disappointed with an online relationship, you need to produce a complete profile. If you want to date online with hot females, you first need to find out how to attract females towards your profile. Other convenient food-related calculators you may want to inspect out are the Coffee to Water Ratio Calculator that spits out specific measurements of water to coffee premises for different coffee strengths and brewing methods (drip, French press, cold brew) and the Pizza Party Calculator which tells you exactly the number of pies to buy based on the variety of individuals and their cravings level (yes, "starving" is a choice).
Interested in your thoughts about a fugitive of 16 yrs becoming a church member. He stayed in our home fo113 days. Convicted pedophile. Church officials KNEW the day we took him in, but said NOTHING.He was with us 113 days. Interesting story. Contact me if you like.
[email protected]