https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46321224&nid=148&title=lds-church-ex-mtc-leader-ask-judge-to-dismiss-colorado-womans-sexual-assault-suit


Well, of course they did.

Interesting that the SLTribune has a story today about the woman who brought this suit and how abuse in the church causes many of the abuse survivors to lose faith and leave the church.

Facing the difficulties with statute of limitations and the advanced age of the accused, it’s interesting that she is taking the Fraud avenue. If she can’t prove the ecclestistical rape, she apparently may be able to prove that the LDS Church lied. They lie so often, it’s not a hard thing to prove, and it makes me wonder if it’s possible to set a precedent for institutional fraud cases surrounding rape claims.

Can’t prove that Al Capone killed guys, but you can prove he evaded tax payments.

I wish I knew enough about state by state legal proceedings to comment more accurately. The creeps of the Mormon church are well protected.

Maybe some actual lawyer can comment, but...

Aren't they mixing apples and oranges here?
The church's filing is using the statute of limitations for *criminal* offenses. This is a *civil* suit, not a criminal prosecution...
Do the criminal prosecution statutes of limitations apply to civil suits as well?

I didn't think they did...but this IS Utah.

There are statute of limitations in civil suits here in Illinois.

The last paragraph: “ the case exposed how the church handles sexual abuse allegations, and was followed by news that a church member supervising missionaries was kicked out in 2014, after female missionaries reported “immoral and sinful” behavior “

Wasn’t that “member” a mission president?
Wasn’t that “immoral and sinful” behavior actually sexual assault?

Good attorneys ask for dismissal on any grounds they can come up with. Overlooking possible avenues of dismissal can get you in trouble with your client and the bar. The attorney has to file the claim with a straight and sincere face even if they know claim is not going to be granted.

These sorts of motions are routine and to be expected. yeah, they can look silly in front of the press though.

All states have statutory limits on civil actions as well as criminal ones. I don't know the details of the Utah laws--how long the time periods are, whether the key is when a plaintiff is harmed or when the plaintiff discovers he has been harmed, etc--but it isn't surprising that the state has such limitations.

(I don't know Utah's limitations on civil suits, either)

The point is, in the motions filed they only mentioned criminal statutes -- not civil statutes. Which seemed to this non-lawyer like apples and oranges...:)

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/05/16/lds-church-seeks-to-dismiss-lawsuit-accusing-former-mtc-president-of-rape/

"Utah lawmakers in recent years have extended the deadlines for suing in sex abuse cases — but only in instances where a victim was abused as a child and later wants to sue his or her abuser as an adult. Denson was over 18 when she was living at the training center.

But attorneys for Denson, now 55, argue her three-year window for filing fraud claims did not open until December 2017 — the month she interviewed and secretly recorded Bishop talking about past conversations, some decades ago, with church officials about his behavior. Her federal suit alleges the church committed fraud by presenting Bishop as a safe and trustworthy leader, placing him in charge of the training center in Provo despite “red flag sexual improprieties” years earlier."

Here are the limitations on civil suits over crimes like fraud. . .

https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/research/utah/utah-statutes-of-limitations.html

And here is the key paragraph in that article:

"A statute of limitations sets the period of time someone has to take some kind of legal action. Statutes of limitations, for example, set deadlines for suing. When a plaintiff misses the cutoff, the defendant can use the statute of limitations as a defense against the suit. If the defendant establishes that the statute of limitations applies and has indeed “run,” the court will normally dismiss the case."

I am an ex-Mormon, but I have Mormon friends and family members. Having worked for the church at one time, I am aware of allegations of sexual assault which were covered up by church leaders. It happened to my own daughter, done when she was 7 years old, by an older Eagle Scout. His Bishop interviewed and promised to have the boy get help and therapy. He did not. The same boy went on to seriously molest the daughter of a friend of mine.

Surprise, surprise, the cult wants to sweep this under the rug! Even if the case is dismissed, the alligation is going to haunt the church with lots of negative attention. Headlines should read, Mormon Church quelled a lawsuit about sexual abuse at its MTC. Help spred the word folks through social media.

I wonder if a lay clergy is more expensive than a professional clergy.

Babyloncansuckit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wonder if a lay clergy is more expensive than a
> professional clergy.

It didn't seem to help the Catholic church - every priest who molested an altar boy was "professional clergy."

Mormonism is chock full of DEAD END ROADS.

There are NO REASONS to join the Mormon Faith, given you know the TRUTH.

There are a million reasons to leave it. This would CERTAINLY be one of them.

M@t