Captain Michael Robertson of the Pleasant Grove Police Department acknowledged on Tuesday the department was aware of the allegations, but said Pleasant Grove’s involvement was not about the allegations.

“The woman contacted the church leaders. She made threats she could possibly hurt someone,” Robertson said. “We went out to her home to visit her and make sure she was OK. We never investigated the alleged abuse.”

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/faith/lds-church-responds-to-allegations-of-sexual-abuse-by-former/article_ebd998f1-473e-5a70-841f-7407ca824e34.html

A lot of trauma for her had to have come when nobody would listen to her. All these years and finally people are listening, but of course, not the church.

Yes, it's becoming apparent that this is the case.

It makes me wonder how much police departments and Utah state elected officials will cover for the church and its leaders.

I think there is an even bigger story of that hiding in the shadows. Just look at the history of the church and the abuses that have been institutionally covered up over the years. There is a reason Utah is considered a theocracy.

William Law Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think there is an even bigger story of that
> hiding in the shadows.

There is.

It is the stories no one has told much till now. The stories of LDS Leaders leading harmfully people who trusted them implicitly.

"It makes me wonder how much police departments and Utah state elected officials will cover for the church and its leaders."

Really? It's pretty easy to figure out. These guys took a blood oath to put the church foremost in their lives. Over family, local laws, the US Constitution, or anything else. They're not going to go against church law to harm brothers with civilian law.

Actually, I don't wonder. That was rhetorical.

I know they are bought and sold by the church.

TSCC is very good at coverups protecting its ecclesiastical hierarchy. It's a patriarchal system, where abuse abounds. It's a magnet for sociopaths, like Martin McNeil, Mormon bishop in Pleasant Grove who murdered his wife and nearly got away with it were it not for the insistence of his adult daughters who knew he murdered their mother.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2018 11:42AM by Amyjo.

It may not be a coverup. This happened a long time ago. By the woman's description, the assault fell short of rape and the statue of limitations would be for attempted rape or some other sexual assault or plain old assault.

In any case, I suspect that the statute of limitations on whatever crime he could be charged with had probably run out by the time that the police were notified. In which case, I don't think that they would investigate a case they could not make.

If on he other hand, she spoke up closer to when it happened, then it does raise a question about why it was not pursued.

First she believes it fell short of rape but what is described is rape.

Second, the statute of limitations is on bringing charges not investigating. It is the height of irresponsibility to not investigate something like this. Imagine the possibility that there are other crimes that this man could have committed which would have been uncovered by the investigation of this accusation.

Third, it doesn't have to be a cover-up, it could just be incompetence.

Edit to say that my reading of the statute states that it is limited four years after the reporting of the crime, not four years after the crime. And very specific conditions apply to that four years.

It appears as though the University Police (BYU) referred the case to the Utah County Attorney's office just recently with the Utah County Deputy Attorney stating "I have no reason to doubt the victim’s disclosure, and would have likely prosecuted Mr. Bishop but for the expiration of the statute of limitations,".

I can't help but wonder if PG PD didn't sink this whole thing in 2010.

All the victim wanted from the church was for her Stake President or any PH leader to follow up on the promise to hold some sort of court-council for her attacker. It never happened.

She became extremely irrational to the point of making threats on the guy's life.

She must have felt very violated for her to do that on many levels.

It would have been traumatizing for her to suffer what she did, and in silence for as long as she did. Too bad the church brushed it under the rug like it's so good at doing.

The Pleasant Grove PD investigated the allegations of threats made in their jurisdiction. The Provo MTC would not be in their jurisdiction. TSCC was tossing out a red herring when they mentioned the contact with Pleasant Grove PD.

We all know that LDS inc was dodging responsibility. What we now know is that the PG PD was demonstrating gross incompetence. If it wasn't in their jurisdiction they should have referred it to the appropriate jurisdiction, not ignored it.

" What we now know is that the PG PD was demonstrating gross incompetence. If it wasn't in their jurisdiction they should have referred it to the appropriate jurisdiction, not ignored it."

This is in Utah County, ground zero for mormondom. Every politician and every department head are mormon. So are the majority of rank and file worker bees. No way they are going to do anything else but protect the church. People that have never lived in Utah can't fathom the influence and corruption that runs this state.

Do you see the divergence?

The church says it "listened carefully to the claims being made and then this was immediately reported to the Pleasant Grove Police Department."

The police say: "She made threats she could possibly hurt someone. . . We went out to her home to visit her and make sure she was OK."

It sounds to me like the church de-emphasized the abuse and emphasized the threat to Bishop. Something like, "Officer, this woman is making wild claims about someone having abused her and is threatening to hurt people. We think she may be violent."

viewing her as a present threat, the police went to her home to discourage her from hurting anyone. Having achieved that objective, their job was done. Thus the police "never investigated the alleged abuse.”

It is easy to report a problem in a way that leads the authorities to focus on a different problem. That is a well established way to cover up the original issue.

And KSL (in Utah) had a story tonight. I couldn't listen carefully as I was working, but they slanted it towards making the church look good and her look bad.

Of course. . .

The bastards.

Another important point, I believe, is that Bishop's complaints about his "addiction" are preposterous.

When he says he couldn't overcome his "addiction," he makes it sound as if he were a victim. Like an alcoholic or gambler, he was subject to a disease and deserved empathy and treatment. That equivalence--"I'm a victim, too!"--strikes me as almost anti-socially self-centered. Given what Paisley70 found about Bishop's behavior as president of Weber State University, it may well be that he was, or is, a sociopath who is incapable of understanding other people's emotions.

The other problem with the word "addiction" is that it doesn't fit what Bishop did. A sexual addiction might mean pathological use of prostitutes or pornography or a predilection towards serial adultery. It does not imply violence.

What Bishop did was sexual assault, including attempted rape and perhaps actual rape. Are we to assume he was addicted to . . . rape? Sexual violence? Addiction isn't important in this case. What is important is that he was a violent predator.

Bishop and the church insist on using vocabulary to minimize their sins. They should not be allowed to muddy the waters in that way.

It probably comes as no surprise to participants on this board that the Church is involved in systemic lying. It lies about its history, its doctrines, its leaders, etc. Should it surprise anyone that it lies about this matter? The Church is surrounded by facilitators - police, politicians, members. I pity this poor woman and her quest for justice. My question is when is the Mormon community going to wake up to the devil in their midst - the organization that they so blindly support? Joseph Smith was a child abuser, adulterer, and rapist and he is the founder of this organization - what do you expect?

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