SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) published an article describing Mormon interview practices with children an “invitation for sexual abuse.” The Salt Lake Tribune followed up with their article entitled “Sexual abuse survivors group of ‘Spotlight’ fame calls on Mormon church to change interview system.”
The LDS Church, by way of the Deseret News, responded with this editorial: “In our opinion: Mormon bishop interviews are not ‘invitations’ for abuse.”
So, which is it?
Experts say—Invitation for abuse
Church says—Not an Invitation for abuse
Well, well. Let’s consider it from a pedophile’s perspective. What conditions would be conducive to a Perfect Paradise for Pedophiles?
No fingerprint check.
No background check.
Unfettered access to children.
Institutional requirement that all children meet one-on-one with a man behind closed doors.
Institutional requirement that no parent or other adult be in the same room when a child is all alone with an adult male leader.
Institutional acceptance, expectation, and instruction that sexual matters be discussed between a child and a grown man behind-closed-doors.
No restrictions whatsoever on how sexually graphic one-on-one interviews with children can be.
Every single one of those marks applies to the Mormon Church….ONLY the Mormon church. No other reputable institution in America condones this behavior. In fact, every other institution in our country condemns this conduct.
What do YOU think?
Is the interview protocol for children in my church an invitation for abuse? Or simply a sacred opportunity for a child and his or her spiritual male leader?
Pedophiles In Our Midst
Jan 2018: Former Bishop charged with sex abuse.
Jan 2018: Stake Executive Secretary Arrested for Groping Teenager
Dec 2017: American Fork LDS bishop counselor arrested for reported sexual abuse
Sep 2017: Mormon bishop took his own life during sex abuse trial
Aug 2017: Mormon high priest admits 21 child sex offences
Jul 2017: Former LDS bishop avoids arrest warrant by fleeing to Venezuela
Jun 2017: Former LDS bishop arrested for alleged child sex abuse
Apr 2017: Outcry as Utah judge calls Mormon bishop who raped a girl a ‘good man’
Jan 2014: Former LDS bishop arrested on count of luring minor for sexual exploitation
Nov 2013: Ex-Mormon bishop pleads guilty in sexual assaults of two teens
Nov 2011: Former LDS Bishop sentenced in sex abuse case
Dec 2008: Former LDS bishop sentenced for molesting young girls
Feb 2005: Former Stake President sentenced for sex soliciting a 14 year old
May 1999: Mormons caught up in wave of pedophile accusations
Come on, my Mormon friends. This has to make your stomach turn. These pedophiles were Bishops and Stake Presidents!!! Never…ever…allow your child to go behind closed doors with an any adult, even at church.
Protect The Children NOW
In 2018, this monstrous practice WILL be struck down….as we all join our efforts together.
- Add your name to 10,000 thundering voices
- Share your story on protectldschildren.org. This is important. We now have 66 stories of inappropriate interviews and the harms they have caused. Our goal is 1,000. The documentation of this wide swath of damage will draw strong media coverage.
- Stay tuned…..
Tocubit Is Invisible's Cubit 
Although I think mormon bishops are generally pretty good guys, but they too, should never be with kids one on one to protect themselves from accusation. But one abuser unsupervised is too much. My experience was horrible but no abuse took place. But my life was affected in a traumatic way. Oh. If you want to find a pedophile go to where the kids are. And opportunity to have things go bad is perfect storm in the bishops closed office asking questions about sex
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Hi, Jim,
Thank you for posting and serving up more food for thought.
Reading between your lines . . .
“My experience was horrible but no abuse took place. But my life was affected in a traumatic way.”
Lemme know if I presume incorrectly, but it appears your definition of “abuse” may require some sort of physical act or contact by the abuser.
So there was no physical contact, yet your life was affected in a traumatic way?
Kinda sounds like you experienced some kind of non-trivial trauma, albeit nonphysical. Would you say that you were you abused non-physically?
Good chance that nothing physical happened to other believing members whose experience of Mormonism ended up making them loathe themselves so deeply . . . up to, and then beyond the point of no return.
The Brethren are fully aware that the LDS experience includes deep levels of leader-administered guilting and shaming for many members at some time of their lives. For other members, the THREAT of experiencing painful guilt and shame for noncompliance is ever looming.
Guilt and shame.
Threat of guilt and shame.
One or the other (or both) are guaranteed blessings of the Restored Gospel.
The worthiness interview with your Bishop is The Brethren’s primary guilt-and-shame dispensary aka modus operandi. It’s very unlikely they will ever give that up . . . without kicking and screaming.
However, Sam’s ingenious initiative to administer nothing less than a Public Media Shaming to Thomas S. Monson and his band of accomplices WILL get the job done.
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That list above are just the ones that were caught. I have a pedophile former bishop in my own family who was protected well by the family and the church (when I was still a child as well). How many others are out there…
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So glad this was posted and hope something will be done about this soon.
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Keep talking, Keep exposing. Evil cannot survive the light.
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