Posted by:
[|]
(
)
Date: February 01, 2024 07:07PM
https://www.abc4.com/news/national/lds-church-leader-faces-felony-after-pennsylvania-police-say-he-did-not-report-child-rape-allegations/" A Pennsylvania LDS Church stake president is facing a felony charge after failing to report child sexual assault allegations against another local church leader.
Rhett Hintze, 50, a lobbyist and stake president of seven Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints congregations was allegedly aware of sex abuse allegations that took place between 1997 and 2000, when the victims were between 8 and 12 years old. Police say Hintze knew about the allegations against the suspect as early as October 2020.
Police say the man charged with the abuse, Shawn Cory Gooden, was arrested nearly two years after he and the victim “had disclosed the sexual assault” to Hintze.
In Pennsylvania, Hintze’s church leadership role made him a “mandated reporter” under the state Child Protective Services Law, which dates to 1975, according to police documents. The Pennsylvania law expanded in 2014 following the Jerry Sandusky scandal to include more categories of people as mandated reporters and to increase the penalties for not reporting allegations."
The police press release
https://www.psp.pa.gov/PIRRs/Harrisburg%20Press%20Releases/H_HARR_31JAN2024_1430.pdf