Mormon Church S Helpline Used To Bury Abuse Allegations Report

A “help line” created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was used to bury a sexual abuse report that went on for at least seven years, according to an Associated Press investigation. The report outlined how the Mormon Abuse Helpline could divert serious allegations of abuse from law enforcement to the church’s attorneys based in a Salt Lake City law firm. As the case unfolds this month, it has been called into question what information shared with a member of the clergy is protected. An Arizona-based bishop, John Herrod, called the hotline after learning that a 5-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by her father, Paul Douglas Adams. Lawyers would tell the bishop he was legally bound to keep the abuse secret because he learned about the acts during a “spiritual confession,” according to the AP. “They said, ‘There’s absolutely nothing you can do,’” Herrod said in a taped interview with law enforcement reviewed by the AP. Church officials also argued that Arizona’s clergy privilege of repentance required bishops to keep the abuse confidential, even though the state’s sexual abuse reporting law requires clergy to report it to authorities. The exception to the rule is if the clergy learned of the abuse during confession. They can choose to “withhold” information if they deem it “reasonable and necessary” according to church doctrine, the AP reported. The daughter, identified only as MJ in the AP, was abused for at least another seven years. And Adams continued to abuse his second daughter. He also frequently posted videos of the abuse online. The AP report drew on about 12,000 pages of sealed records in an unrelated child-abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia to spell out how the secret system worked. Workers had a list of questions to go through to determine if a report was serious enough to refer to a Salt Lake City law firm, Kirton McConkie. One directive said officials should tell bishops to encourage the victim, perpetrator or witnesses to report the abuse. But another said he “never advises a priesthood leader to report abuse. Such advice should come only from legal counsel,” the AP reported, citing a sample of the protocol’s guidelines. Records and call notes were also destroyed at the end of the day, a manager who works in the church’s Family Services Department told the publication. Three of Adams’ children filed a lawsuit against two Arizona bishops and church leaders in Salt Lake City for failing to report the abuse. “The Mormon Church operates the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counsel of victims of sexual abuse…but for (church) attorneys to squelch allegations and protect the Mormon Church from potentially costly lawsuits,” the lawsuit filed by Adams’ children reportedly, according to the AP. An Arizona judge ruled Aug. 8 that the church must cooperate with the lawsuit after initially refusing to hand over records about Adams and after a church official cited the clergy’s penitential privilege to avoid answering questions during the pretrial hearing. testimony, The AP have reported. Judge Laura Cardinal ruled that Adams waived his privilege to keep his confessions secret by posting photos of the abuse online and when he confessed his actions to Homeland Security agents in 2017. Adams was arrested after New Zealand authorities found one of video on the internet. The father committed suicide while in custody. Lawyers defending the bishops and the church told the AP they acted according to the law and “religious principles.” The Mormon church also said the AP story “seriously mischaracterized” the purpose of the church’s helpline. “The helpline is critical to ensuring that all legal reporting requirements are met. It provides a place for local leaders, who serve voluntarily, to receive expert guidance in determining who should make a report and whether they (local leaders) should play a role in this reporting,” the church wrote. The helpline was established in the mid-1990s, at a time when reports of sexual abuse cases were on the rise and resulting lawsuits often awarded millions of dollars in damages to victims, according to the AP. The church has not responded to Insider’s request for comment.

title: “Mormon Church S Helpline Used To Bury Abuse Allegations Report Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-26” author: “Jerry Klipfel”

A “help line” created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was used to bury a sexual abuse report that went on for at least seven years, according to an Associated Press investigation. The report outlined how the Mormon Abuse Helpline could divert serious allegations of abuse from law enforcement to the church’s attorneys based in a Salt Lake City law firm. As the case unfolds this month, it has been called into question what information shared with a member of the clergy is protected. An Arizona-based bishop, John Herrod, called the hotline after learning that a 5-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by her father, Paul Douglas Adams. Lawyers would tell the bishop he was legally bound to keep the abuse secret because he learned about the acts during a “spiritual confession,” according to the AP. “They said, ‘There’s absolutely nothing you can do,’” Herrod said in a taped interview with law enforcement reviewed by the AP. Church officials also argued that Arizona’s clergy privilege of repentance required bishops to keep the abuse confidential, even though the state’s sexual abuse reporting law requires clergy to report it to authorities. The exception to the rule is if the clergy learned of the abuse during confession. They can choose to “withhold” information if they deem it “reasonable and necessary” according to church doctrine, the AP reported. The daughter, identified only as MJ in the AP, was abused for at least another seven years. And Adams continued to abuse his second daughter. He also frequently posted videos of the abuse online. The AP report drew on about 12,000 pages of sealed records in an unrelated child-abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia to spell out how the secret system worked. Workers had a list of questions to go through to determine if a report was serious enough to refer to a Salt Lake City law firm, Kirton McConkie. One directive said officials should tell bishops to encourage the victim, perpetrator or witnesses to report the abuse. But another said he “never advises a priesthood leader to report abuse. Such advice should come only from legal counsel,” the AP reported, citing a sample of the protocol’s guidelines. Records and call notes were also destroyed at the end of the day, a manager who works in the church’s Family Services Department told the publication. Three of Adams’ children filed a lawsuit against two Arizona bishops and church leaders in Salt Lake City for failing to report the abuse. “The Mormon Church operates the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counsel of victims of sexual abuse…but for (church) attorneys to squelch allegations and protect the Mormon Church from potentially costly lawsuits,” the lawsuit filed by Adams’ children reportedly, according to the AP. An Arizona judge ruled Aug. 8 that the church must cooperate with the lawsuit after initially refusing to hand over records about Adams and after a church official cited the clergy’s penitential privilege to avoid answering questions during the pretrial hearing. testimony, The AP have reported. Judge Laura Cardinal ruled that Adams waived his privilege to keep his confessions secret by posting photos of the abuse online and when he confessed his actions to Homeland Security agents in 2017. Adams was arrested after New Zealand authorities found one of video on the internet. The father committed suicide while in custody. Lawyers defending the bishops and the church told the AP they acted according to the law and “religious principles.” The Mormon church also said the AP story “seriously mischaracterized” the purpose of the church’s helpline. “The helpline is critical to ensuring that all legal reporting requirements are met. It provides a place for local leaders, who serve voluntarily, to receive expert guidance in determining who should make a report and whether they (local leaders) should play a role in this reporting,” the church wrote. The helpline was established in the mid-1990s, at a time when reports of sexual abuse cases were on the rise and resulting lawsuits often awarded millions of dollars in damages to victims, according to the AP. The church has not responded to Insider’s request for comment.

title: “Mormon Church S Helpline Used To Bury Abuse Allegations Report Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-11” author: “Makeda Fender”

A “help line” created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was used to bury a sexual abuse report that went on for at least seven years, according to an Associated Press investigation. The report outlined how the Mormon Abuse Helpline could divert serious allegations of abuse from law enforcement to the church’s attorneys based in a Salt Lake City law firm. As the case unfolds this month, it has been called into question what information shared with a member of the clergy is protected. An Arizona-based bishop, John Herrod, called the hotline after learning that a 5-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by her father, Paul Douglas Adams. Lawyers would tell the bishop he was legally bound to keep the abuse secret because he learned about the acts during a “spiritual confession,” according to the AP. “They said, ‘There’s absolutely nothing you can do,’” Herrod said in a taped interview with law enforcement reviewed by the AP. Church officials also argued that Arizona’s clergy privilege of repentance required bishops to keep the abuse confidential, even though the state’s sexual abuse reporting law requires clergy to report it to authorities. The exception to the rule is if the clergy learned of the abuse during confession. They can choose to “withhold” information if they deem it “reasonable and necessary” according to church doctrine, the AP reported. The daughter, identified only as MJ in the AP, was abused for at least another seven years. And Adams continued to abuse his second daughter. He also frequently posted videos of the abuse online. The AP report drew on about 12,000 pages of sealed records in an unrelated child-abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia to spell out how the secret system worked. Workers had a list of questions to go through to determine if a report was serious enough to refer to a Salt Lake City law firm, Kirton McConkie. One directive said officials should tell bishops to encourage the victim, perpetrator or witnesses to report the abuse. But another said he “never advises a priesthood leader to report abuse. Such advice should come only from legal counsel,” the AP reported, citing a sample of the protocol’s guidelines. Records and call notes were also destroyed at the end of the day, a manager who works in the church’s Family Services Department told the publication. Three of Adams’ children filed a lawsuit against two Arizona bishops and church leaders in Salt Lake City for failing to report the abuse. “The Mormon Church operates the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counsel of victims of sexual abuse…but for (church) attorneys to squelch allegations and protect the Mormon Church from potentially costly lawsuits,” the lawsuit filed by Adams’ children reportedly, according to the AP. An Arizona judge ruled Aug. 8 that the church must cooperate with the lawsuit after initially refusing to hand over records about Adams and after a church official cited the clergy’s penitential privilege to avoid answering questions during the pretrial hearing. testimony, The AP have reported. Judge Laura Cardinal ruled that Adams waived his privilege to keep his confessions secret by posting photos of the abuse online and when he confessed his actions to Homeland Security agents in 2017. Adams was arrested after New Zealand authorities found one of video on the internet. The father committed suicide while in custody. Lawyers defending the bishops and the church told the AP they acted according to the law and “religious principles.” The Mormon church also said the AP story “seriously mischaracterized” the purpose of the church’s helpline. “The helpline is critical to ensuring that all legal reporting requirements are met. It provides a place for local leaders, who serve voluntarily, to receive expert guidance in determining who should make a report and whether they (local leaders) should play a role in this reporting,” the church wrote. The helpline was established in the mid-1990s, at a time when reports of sexual abuse cases were on the rise and resulting lawsuits often awarded millions of dollars in damages to victims, according to the AP. The church has not responded to Insider’s request for comment.

title: “Mormon Church S Helpline Used To Bury Abuse Allegations Report Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-21” author: “Joshua Taylor”

A “help line” created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was used to bury a sexual abuse report that went on for at least seven years, according to an Associated Press investigation. The report outlined how the Mormon Abuse Helpline could divert serious allegations of abuse from law enforcement to the church’s attorneys based in a Salt Lake City law firm. As the case unfolds this month, it has been called into question what information shared with a member of the clergy is protected. An Arizona-based bishop, John Herrod, called the hotline after learning that a 5-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by her father, Paul Douglas Adams. Lawyers would tell the bishop he was legally bound to keep the abuse secret because he learned about the acts during a “spiritual confession,” according to the AP. “They said, ‘There’s absolutely nothing you can do,’” Herrod said in a taped interview with law enforcement reviewed by the AP. Church officials also argued that Arizona’s clergy privilege of repentance required bishops to keep the abuse confidential, even though the state’s sexual abuse reporting law requires clergy to report it to authorities. The exception to the rule is if the clergy learned of the abuse during confession. They can choose to “withhold” information if they deem it “reasonable and necessary” according to church doctrine, the AP reported. The daughter, identified only as MJ in the AP, was abused for at least another seven years. And Adams continued to abuse his second daughter. He also frequently posted videos of the abuse online. The AP report drew on about 12,000 pages of sealed records in an unrelated child-abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia to spell out how the secret system worked. Workers had a list of questions to go through to determine if a report was serious enough to refer to a Salt Lake City law firm, Kirton McConkie. One directive said officials should tell bishops to encourage the victim, perpetrator or witnesses to report the abuse. But another said he “never advises a priesthood leader to report abuse. Such advice should come only from legal counsel,” the AP reported, citing a sample of the protocol’s guidelines. Records and call notes were also destroyed at the end of the day, a manager who works in the church’s Family Services Department told the publication. Three of Adams’ children filed a lawsuit against two Arizona bishops and church leaders in Salt Lake City for failing to report the abuse. “The Mormon Church operates the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counsel of victims of sexual abuse…but for (church) attorneys to squelch allegations and protect the Mormon Church from potentially costly lawsuits,” the lawsuit filed by Adams’ children reportedly, according to the AP. An Arizona judge ruled Aug. 8 that the church must cooperate with the lawsuit after initially refusing to hand over records about Adams and after a church official cited the clergy’s penitential privilege to avoid answering questions during the pretrial hearing. testimony, The AP have reported. Judge Laura Cardinal ruled that Adams waived his privilege to keep his confessions secret by posting photos of the abuse online and when he confessed his actions to Homeland Security agents in 2017. Adams was arrested after New Zealand authorities found one of video on the internet. The father committed suicide while in custody. Lawyers defending the bishops and the church told the AP they acted according to the law and “religious principles.” The Mormon church also said the AP story “seriously mischaracterized” the purpose of the church’s helpline. “The helpline is critical to ensuring that all legal reporting requirements are met. It provides a place for local leaders, who serve voluntarily, to receive expert guidance in determining who should make a report and whether they (local leaders) should play a role in this reporting,” the church wrote. The helpline was established in the mid-1990s, at a time when reports of sexual abuse cases were on the rise and resulting lawsuits often awarded millions of dollars in damages to victims, according to the AP. The church has not responded to Insider’s request for comment.