Abuse and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

FAIR Answers—back to home page

Abuse and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on abuse is that "abuse cannot be tolerated in any form. Those who abuse their spouses, children, other family members, or anyone else violate the laws of God and man. . . . When abuse occurs, the first and immediate responsibility of Church leaders is to help those who have been abused and to protect vulnerable persons from future abuse."

To view articles about abuse and the Church, click "Expand" in the blue bar:

V

Abuse and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

General Principles	The Church's position on abuse Bishop interviews with youth Mandatory reporting of abuse Abuse victims and lack of culpability Child abuse in the scriptures
Specific Cases	Ritual child abuse accusations in the 1990s Abuse and the Boy Scouts of America Bisbee, Arizona — Adams abuse case

Questions relating to the sin of sexual abuse — how frequently does it happen in the Church, how does the Church protect and aid victims, and most importantly, how can we further reduce the risk — are unfortunately necessary to ask in today’s world.

Jennifer Roach Lees, a licensed therapist and former Anglican minister, researched the answers to these questions. Her findings were laid out in a 2023 FAIR presentation. Her findings are summarized below.

Are there higher rates of abuse in our church than in others?

Advocates against abuse have been hesitant to say, “This church is doing better than that church,” because there has been no solid data to base that on. Jennifer said:

An author says, ‘I ended up leaving the Catholic church after I watched a priest defend molestation during a sermon, in the name of forgiveness. It was a horrendous sermon to watch. And in Christian communities like the Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it’s a common message.’ …

“But is it even true? We have very little data, at least up until now, to check statements like this against. … Back in April, the Boy Scouts exited bankruptcy. Part of that was establishing a fund, to fund settlements for victims. … The church paid $250 million into this fund, or 30% of the fund. The question that rises in my mind is: ‘How did they come up with that number? How did they come up with that percent? Why 30%?’ … You can find claims online where people will say … ‘They’re getting off for pennies on the dollar. Surely the church is responsible for more than 30% of the abuse that’s happened in the Boy Scouts!’ But is that true? Is our Church responsible for 30% of the abuse that happened? What can we actually know?"

Jennifer discovered that Latter-day Saint-affiliated troops made up as much as 30% of all Boy Scout troops, depending on the decade in question. Accordingly, they paid 30% of the money into the victim compensation fund. So, does that mean Church members are responsible for 30% of the abuse inflicted on Boy Scouts over the decades?

What are the Boy Scouts “P-Files”?

To answer this question, she looked at the only database she could: the Boy Scout Ineligible Volunteer Files, or what are commonly called the “P-Files” or “Perversion Files.”

She explained, “We do not have access to all of the information on all of the claims about the Boy Scouts or all of the abuse that has happened. But … over the last 80 years, the Boy Scouts have kept records on the abuse and other perversions that have happened in their ranks. They have documented these for quite a long time. Those documents have been put into a database. The Los Angeles Times owns that database. You can go online — anyone can — you can search it for free. You can see abusers that happened in your area, you can search by their names, you can search by troop number. It’s very fascinating just to kind of look through. I decided to analyze these files and find out what we could learn. The files vary widely in terms of their size and their completeness. Some are just a couple of pages, especially the older ones. The older ones are not very complete, while others have like 100 pages in them or more. Court documents, victim statements, photographs, newspaper clippings, all kinds of things are in there.”

Each file comes with a cover sheet asking for basic information about each case, including the religion of the alleged perpetrator of the abuse. This is the only database of its kind that Jennifer has been able to find that lists the religious affiliation of those accused of abuse. The perpetrators are overwhelmingly male, so much so that female representatives are statistically insignificant. If their religion is left off the cover sheet, most of the time that information can be found by reading through the file, but in about 3% of the cases, it could not be located, so they were removed from her sample.

In the “P-Files” were details of approximately 5,000 cases spanning across 80 years that Jennifer used to gather her data. In addition to the 3% whose religious affiliation could not be determined, roughly 1% were so heavily redacted, they could not be used. Another 1% was eliminated because the files were “perversion” files, not “abuse” files, and some cases involved homosexual activity between consenting adults, not the youth. That left her with approximately 95% of the cases she could use for her research.

Do Latter-day Saint leaders make up 30% of abusers in the Boy Scout files?

What were the results of the research? Jennifer continued, “Are 30% of these leaders LDS? … 30% of the troops were LDS; we gave 30% to this Victims Compensation Fund. Is that the right number, or isn’t it? Using statistical sampling I pulled files to see who’s committing this abuse. What was their troop affiliation?”

When she looked at the results, she was surprised by the findings. “It wasn’t even close!” she said. “Not even close to 30%. 5.16% of the abusers were LDS-affiliated. … Statistically, that means we’re seeing 75% less abuse in an LDS troop than in a non-LDS troop.”

It also means that 94.84% of the abuse in those files came from non-Latter-day Saint troop leaders. Of the 30% she expected to find, based on the number of LDS troops and the amount paid into the compensation fund, Jennifer only actually found ¼ of that amount of abuse, and had her numbers checked by a professional statistician. There was a ten quintillionth of a chance that the low percentage occurred by chance. There were other factors driving the lower abuse rates.

Those factors include following the best practices to avoid abuse, as well as going above and beyond those practices. The system of calling and sustaining youth leaders, ward/stake boundaries, the member number system, gender-specific leaders for the Young Women, disfellowshipping and other membership restrictions, and the helpline all contribute to that success.

What are the best practices to avoid abuse, and how does the Church follow them?

According to Jennifer’s presentation, the best practices to minimize abuse include:

Screening volunteers

Callings are filled by the guidance of the Spirit, along with considering the member’s worthiness, gifts and abilities, and personal circumstances.

People who are not members of the Church can be called to some callings, but not teaching positions, Primary music leaders, or as quorum or class presidency members. They will not be placed in positions of working with the youth.

Those who have had their Church membership withdrawn or restricted may not hold callings.

Training volunteers

All adults in the Church who participate in teaching the youth or supervising their activities have to complete children and youth protection training and to renew it every three years.

Promptly report the abuse when it happens

The Church has guidelines for reporting abuse immediately to both local leadership and to civil authorities. This includes the helpline for the local leadership to access when they aren’t sure of the law.

A two-deep rule among adults who volunteer with children, including transportation and all communications with children

Classes and activities involving the youth, including transportation to events or communications regarding those events should include two or more adults present at all times. Vehicles should be in safe operating condition, seatbelts must be worn by everyone, and all drivers should have a valid license and insurance. No extended one-on-one communications should be had between any adult leaders and the youth who are not their own children.

Parents being informed of private conversations between adults and children, and the opportunity to join those conversations

Parents are informed of all interviews and meetings with the youth, and all such conversations include a second adult or parent in the same or adjoining room, depending on the youth’s comfort level.

Windows on all classroom doors

Many class rooms in Church buildings have windows on the doors, and those that do not are encouraged to be propped partially open during lessons with the youth.

Parents, not teachers, should take their children to the bathroom

Leaders and teachers are encouraged to request parents take their children to the bathroom before attending Primary. If a child needs to use the restroom during Primary, leaders are to send for the child’s parents to escort them.

These guidelines are included in the General Handbook and other Church policies, and each of them plays a role in reducing abuse. However, these guidelines are already being followed by many other churches, too. So, what else is driving lower abuse rates among Latter-day Saints?

What are additional, unique practices in our Church to help protect children?

Notes