Posted by:
Gordon B. Stinky
(
)
Date: December 14, 2022 02:16PM
Well, I read the reddit.
And watched the video.
I searched and apparently this isn't in the news yet.
FIRST, let me say that I am not "GordonBStinkley" on reddit! It's certainly close to my moniker here though.
Anyway, some random thoughts...
There was some talk on reddit about the efforts of non-law-enforcement group potentially hindering legal action (or something like that), but the interviewer struck me as pretty well trained.
The only redeeming bit for the mishie in question is that he ultimately blocked the "girl." Maybe he realized that it had gone too far. Or maybe he did it to hide the message from his companion (do messages from blocked people remain visible?). But the interviewer went to great lengths to box him in on certain issues (e.g. he knew the "girl" was 11; he knew "she" wasn't a scammer; he asked her for nude pics; etc).
If I read the reddit right, it would seem likely that the companion wasn't doing his part of what was expected, in terms of mutual accountability. I imagine that he'll take some heat for this happening right under his nose. And deservedly -- I hate to "defend" TSCC, but following the safety practices that were described on reddit would likely have prevented this. Of course, Calvin could also have made efforts to deceive his companion. But if it had been prevented, and if he's truly a pedophile, it would likely happen later anyway (like when he's at BYU, or a Bishop, or wherever some discerning muckety-muck's discernment discerns that he should be).
As others have noted, the deference to authority is very apparent. The interviewer had no legal authority, yet the mishies largely deferred to him (probably because of his demeanor, and coming across as an investigator of some sort). The property manager (I assume) was tougher on the interviewer than they were, and even told the mishies that they could leave (if I heard it right).
I grew up in church (Methodist), and then Episcopal for much of my adult life. I NEVER would have thought that ANY church has that kind of authority (to stand in the stead of civil authorities), probably because I was never taught to believe that, and no church ever tried to claim it, or even insinuate it.
TBF, the mishies are on a full-time mission, and Calvin was ostensibly doing TSCC's business when he encountered the 11 year old, so to some extent it was a problem "on the job," but it's not something where the answer is that the mission president counsels his subordinate to stay focused and stop goofing off (like it might actually be if he were flirting with a 19 year old). The fact that they, the companion in particular (because Calvin could be understandably squirming), didn't seem to recognize that this was a matter for civil action, not church review, is stupefying. OTOH, I've never been a mishie, and perhaps they are told to bring everything to the mission president.