This makes me so angry!

I have written before how I have argued with my father about this issue about 20 years ago. He told me that a bishop not only is not required to report child abuse, they are not allowed to when it is confessed to them. This would be any sort of abuse- physical or sexual. He was a bishop in the 80's and I had hoped it was something that had changed in some way through the years.

I recently had the same conversation with my brother who has been a bishop within the last 5 years. He told me in his training he is still being told that any sort of abuse that is reported to him in the bishops office was protected and he was not allowed to report. however, if he heard it in the hallway at church then he probably should. But of course, in that case other people would know and it really was their job to report it.

In another case a sex abuser confessed to his bishop. The bishop said later, when it was revealed by someone else and the man sent to prison, that he wished he could report it, but was not allowed to. However, if it had been confessed to the stake president the sp would be able to report it.

I just looked up the mandatory reporting laws in my state and it clearly says members of the clergy are required to report. No exceptions. Also lawyers and medical professionals and other professions protected with confidentiality. Confidentiality does not apply in any case when someone reveals he is having sex with children.

I have such a negative attitude toward mormonism, but I truly had hoped they were making progress in this one thing. In protecting children and following the law. But no.

Perpetrators are never or at least rarely the first to tell a bish about their abusive behavior.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2011 01:31PM by Cheryl.

The way he was talking about his requirements it seemed clear that the training was to make sure and keep it all 'in house.' If a teen revealed during an interview that he or she was being molested by a parent, for example, it was still confidential and if the teen wanted it reported it was the teens job to do so. And the perpetrator would be called in for an interview that would also be confidential.

I do know of a case where a man came in and confessed to molesting boys. His bishop heard the confession, said he knew the man was better than that and to prove it he would make him the scout leader in the ward. Of boys the age he had been molesting. You know, as a show of trust. Guess what happened next.

Unforgivable. If the bishop is a state mandated reporter (teacher, medical professional, law inforcement) they are breaking the law by not reporting.

You have to be kidding me! There's a bishop who keeps things (ANYTHING) confidential? I don't think I've ever known one of those. They blab every thing in those little get togethers with all of the other leaders, who then blab it to who knows who. I've had bishops sit in my living room and tell me stuff that I had no business hearing, and told him so.

My father was a bishop, he called me 2000 miles away to tell me about a friend that had been sexually abused. He was just dying to tell me every gory detail. When I asked him why he was telling me, he said it was because he wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I hadn't seen this person for 15 years. So, no i didn't know anything until he told me.

Maybe what they mean when they say they can't tell anyone, is they can't tell anyone who isn't a mormon, or who is associated with enforcing the law.

I know an ex-Mormon woman who was abused by her father, a Mormon. She told her Bishop and a couple of other PH men in the ward, and they basically told her she was making it up.

I thought this was unusual and unfortunate at the time.

Now I see it as being the typical and standard Mormon response to dealing with accusations of child abuse!

Then again, this is perhaps not surprising given that Mormons have no professionally trained clergy. This particular Bishop worked as an accountant during the day. The other men she told were a HR consultant and an IT support worker.

Her abuser is still active in the church, although they have the good sense to refrain from offering him a calling (or should that be God has the good sense to call him to anything?)

"Dealing with the Perpetrator
Simply put, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to child abusers.

When abuse is suspected, the Church directs its members to first contact the legal authorities and then their local bishop for counseling and support.

The Church cooperates fully with law enforcement in investigating incidents of child abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice.
"http://newsroom.lds.org/official-statement/child-abuse

I have been told there is a training video on this subject for bishops etc. also.

Notice the key words: suspected, contact legal authorities then their local bishops.
EDIT:
I would presume that these instructions are in the CHI also.

I don't know how new this policy is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2011 07:31PM by SusieQ#1.

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/provo-city-to-file-charges-against-lds-bishop/article_043de6d0-8146-5505-9804-7abdeaf5c7e0.html


here is a recent story of one who failed to report.

Requiring a bishop to report abuse could arguably be a violation of religious freedom. According to the First Amendment, the government can't make any laws regarding religion. There are also issues of privacy involved- that is protected by the Ninth Amendment. I also think victims of crimes have to take some responsibility for not notifying the proper authorities. If my house was burglarized, I think I would be to blame if I reported the crime to the bishop rather than the police.

Sounds like you're saying that abuse might be inherent to the religion. Even in that case, it's illegal not to report, just like failing to get medical treatment for sick children is illegal but part of certain church practice for Christian Scientists and others.

The one and only time when clergy might be exempt is when a molester freely comes forward to confess. Still, the clergyman needs to take precautions to protect possible victims.

It's illegal for a bishop or other clergy to call in the molester and ask for his/her side of the story before calling CPS and/or the police. Bishops must never try to handle an invesigation or gather evidence. That is totally up to professionals who must be called immediately.

Laws do supercede religion in some cases. This is one example.

Every prudent person in society is required to report child abuse. The laws are much more strenuous for teachers, medical workers, social workers, and bishops, RPs, missionaries, and other church officials.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2011 07:44AM by Cheryl.

C Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also think victims of crimes have to take some responsibility for not notifying the proper authorities.

You're saying that underage kids should be responsible for notifying the authorities? That's expecting far more from them than they can often deliver. If the child tells a trusted adult, or otherwise has signs of abuse, then that adult becomes the responsible party who should notify the authorities.

" I also think victims of crimes have to take some responsibility for not notifying the proper authorities."

Jesus fucking christ. .

As traumatic as sexual abuse is, a victim deserves big time kudos for telling ANYONE about it. It is a level of violation that makes discussion with others very, very difficult. Especially when they are little kids.

If your house is burglarized, then you would most likely feel no shame in telling anyone about it. Sexual abuse victims are often times crippled with shame, and are frequently intimidated into keeping their mouths shut. Something most people who have their homes broken into don't have to worry about.

So your comparison is stupid. Sorry.

I could keep going with this conversation, but i'm a little shocked that I have to explain this to someone.....

According to Mormon theology the world/land are all God's. The Mormon church is God's true church. It's leaders are God's official spokesmen on earth who get to run everything. Thus the laws are all subject to interpretation and re-creation by the Brethren and everyone on the earth is expected to honor, obey and sustain the laws of the Brethren. However since not everyone is presently a good Mormon the church members are working to assimilate them.

I have seen some real progress in departing from the notion that the victim is to take some blame. I would hope that continues. I have seen the LDS Church be more emphatic about contacting authorities in recent years.

Personally, I have never witnessed anyone blame the victim, but I have read some very unsettling statements by leaders that go in that direction.

I have see that reports by minors were made to adults who reported to the local authorities and some reported to the bishop also but not always.

The general accepted behavior within the LDS Church and how it functions as a "tribe" is to go to the bishop about almost everything imaginable. I'm sure bishops could tell substantiate my claim! There are many behaviors that acceptable in Mormonism that are not acceptable in the rest of the local community/society.

Mormonism is what I would call an "in house" religion. There are many others of course. Everything is typically kept within it's walls. Contacting outsiders is often considered unacceptable, and unnecessary and outside the normal course.

The LDS Social Services Dept.(which is rather new in the history of the church), is set up to keep their counseling completely "in house" with the participant asked to sign to give their permission for the counselor to report to the bishop.

Victims are given a way to follow the laws set up to protect them. Unfortunately, that does not always work to their advantage.

Also,here are victim's rights counseling available within the local counties. If not contacted by them, it's a good idea to contact them, and find out what they can do for the victim. I know they exist in our county.

I have observed that the typical LDS members, (living within a very closed society that believes they are "in the world, but not of the world"), will typically/ naturally put their trust in the church leaders and it's support systems and not in the outside authorities. This inside support system is very different than the outside systems. The LDS Church relies heavily on prayer, and spiritual support which is, at best, only a small part of what is really needed.

I think the LDS Church has defined, in their policies exactly what bishops are to do when someone confesses a crime, or is the victim of a crime re: sexual abuse, etc. I would hope that they follow it.

It's time to swing the 'balance' away from protecting a perp to protecting a victim.

the 'priest penitent' protection idea has long passed any
benefit or usefullness to society, Especially when invoked by 'lay ministers'.


just sayin'

Given the current mood in the world about religious leaders covering up child abuse, what are the chances that Romney failed to report an abuse case while bishop or SP? If that information came out it could be pretty embarassing for Romney and the church.

Last time I heard, bishops had DVDs to watch on their own time as needed. Some looked at the information. Others were too busy or might have misplaced the tapes. They were told to call a 24 hr hot line whenever someone informed them of possible abuse.

A church lawyer calls a bishop back from the hot line and confers with him about cases. I would think a high priority would be to protect church interests. Otherwise there would be social workers or trained medical people advising bishops.

Some of this could have changed in recent years. More bishops call in law enforcement than in previous years, but no one provides regular trains for bishops. Even less is provided to other church representatives who are also mandated to call.

From what I read here, the bishops are still not very reliable reporters. They often illegally muddy up cases before making any calls, so law enforcement can not do well run clean investigations since perpetrators have been notified to hide evidence.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2011 04:21PM by Cheryl.

The bishops 19 year old son raped my 11 year old niece.

Do you think the bishop called the police?
Do you think he blamed the victim?
Do you think he tried to sweep it under the rug?
Do you think it was a one time event?
Do you think slc was worried about being sued?

What that stupid CHI says is irrelevant. The bishop is going to do what works for him. I have a few more stories about bishops ignoring the CHI. They all involve young girls being raped.