Currently, the church is extremely diligent about abuse. They require anyone with any possibility of working with kids to take a training course. They encourage all members, not just leadership, to report any abuse to authorities. Any leader who comes into contact with an abuse situation is required to call a hotline that puts them in touch with a counselor. Once the details of the case have been reported to the counselor, they put you in contact with a lawyer who tells you what you are legally required to do depending on where you live. The counselor then gets back on and gives you tips about how to proceed with helping both the victim and the abuser.zhang_daqian wrote: ↑November 9th, 2021, 3:12 pm These are some of the cases that I am not feeling are showing the Christian spirit among the LDS congregations
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LDS Robert Gene Metcalf "This case was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court in May
1993. In 1979, Gail Metcalf walked in on her husband, Gene Metcalf, and witnessed him
having anal sex with a 13 year old boy who had been residing with them. He was sentenced
to prison for six years for his misconduct with the boy as well as with Gail's children. She
divorced him and the Church excommunicated him. His parental rights were not terminated,
but a six-month no contact order was entered following his release from prison.
In 1987, Gail Metcalf developed a brain tumor and needed extensive medical treatment.
She contacted her local Bishop to discuss what will happen to her children while she is
hospitalized. Her civil lawsuit alleges that she was ordered by her Bishop and the Stake
President to send her children to live with Gene Metcalf and they would monitor the
situation for her making certain the children were safe. She sent them to live with him for
eight months when they were molested again. At his sentencing, there was heavy lobbying
by politicians connected to the Church in defense of Gene Metcalf. Local Bishops involved
and who may be named defendants are Grant Shumway and Don Excell. The case was
resolved with an undisclosed settlement on behalf of the Metcalf children."
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“From at least the 1960s if not earlier, LDS Defendants knew that LDS callings and
assignments were being used by pedophiles to victimize children and that LDS Defendants
had an institution-wide child abuse problem. Despite this knowledge, LDS Defendants did
not implement adequate child sex abuse policies.83.This institutional failure by LDS
Defendants was a substantial contributing factor to the abuse of Plaintiffs. LDS Defendants’
failure to implement adequate child abuse policies created a foreseeable risk of harm to the
safety of children in the care of the LDS Defendants, including these plaintiffs.84.As a direct
and foreseeable consequence of LDS Defendants’ negligence as described above, Plaintiffs
have suffered damages as described in paragraphs. “During the time all Plaintiffs were
sexually abused by Dykes, LDS Defendants had knowledge or should have known of
Dykes’ dangerousness to children. In or about 1981 or1982, LDS Defendants discovered
that Dykes had sexually abused a minor child who was a LDS member and scout, and LDS
Defendants conducted their own investigation into the allegations.”
DYKE-Timur Van Dykes 1-Complaint.pdf
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LDS Burrell Mohler Sr, his brother and his four sons were charged with 42 counts of child
sexual abuse. "But a church bishop, Paul Tonga, made the idiotic decision to investigate
the matter himself. The Star reported that Burrell Jr. was excommunicated from the LDS
church in 2007 for personal conduct unrelated to child sexual abuse." "For its part, the
Mormon church has said Bishop Tonga should have consulted with church leaders, who
would have told him to notify the authorities." In the early 1990s some of the grandchildren
reportedly went to their mother about the abuse, according to poice documents. Instead of
going to law enforcement, she told the head of her Mormon church. And nothing
happened." MOHLER-Burrell Mohler 1.pdf "Investigators seized several dozen videotapes
from on Mohler son's house"
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“Most of these abuse cases were referred to the legal system by individuals other than religious leaders, and yet in many of the cases the abuse had been brought to the attention of clergy members long before it was reported to the authorities."
"One particular incest case I worked with had been reported to six different bishops, and none of those bishops reported it to the authorities. The molestation continued for a period of eleven years.”7
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We cannot make any sense of it b/c we believe Alma is a prophet and maybe the boy prophet Joseph was one also. But no one we have spoken to has been able to explain it to us why this is happening.
Previously, the church tended to try and keep things quieter and not get authorities involved. Some of that was PR, but often it was a leaders decision because they thought it would help the repentance process of the abuser. There are undoubtedly some leaders who still do this even though the church is telling them otherwise, but this is not a systemic issue in the church.
As to your confusion as to why this happens... From your posts here, it seems you simply don't believe in human nature.. or more likely that you believe these types of vices manifest themselves in America and the LDS church more than where you are from. But as i said before, these things come out in the open because of the freedom here and are then addressed. In other places, they remain hidden forever.
