An Arizona Superior Court judge has dismissed a high-profile child sexual abuse lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ruling that church officials who knew that a church member was sexually abusing his daughter had no duty to report the abuse to police or social service agencies because the information was received...
Man accused of fatally shooting three men had fight with one of the victims days before their deaths, testimony revealsCopyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In a ruling on Friday, Cochise County Superior Court Judge Timothy Dickerson said the state’s clergy-penitent privilege excused two bishops and several other officials with the church, widely known as the Mormon church, from the state’s child sex abuse mandatory reporting law because Paul Adams initially disclosed during a confession that he was sexually abusing his daughter.
Lynne Cadigan, an attorney representing the Adams children who filed the 2021 lawsuit, said she will appeal the ruling. “How do you explain to young victims that a rapist’s religious beliefs are more important than their right to be free from rape?” she asked. Cadigan also said the ruling, if allowed to stand, would “completely eviscerate the state’s child protection law.”
Church records disclosed during the lawsuit showed that attorney Merrill Nelson held multiple conversations with Herrod and a second bishop, Robert “Kim” Mauzy, over a two-year span and recommended they withhold the information from civil authorities, based on church doctrine and the clergy-penitent privilege.
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Court cites clergy-penitent privilege in dismissing child sex abuse lawsuit against Mormon churchAn Arizona Superior Court judge has dismissed a high-profile child sexual abuse lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ruling that church officials who knew that a church member was sexually abusing his daughter had no duty to report the abuse to police or social service agencies because the information was received...
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