http://www.epinions.com/review/Lisa_Davis_The_Sins_of_Brother_Curtis_epi/content_574594846340

This book is a fascinating expose of how the LDS church covered up an elderly pedophile's many sexual crimes against young boys. It's a great read for those who are interested in true crime, even though the subject matter is distasteful and ultimately tragic.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2011 04:43PM by knotheadusc.

I'd be interested to see the review, but the link doesnt work

Oh shoot. I messed it up. Here's a better link.

http://www.epinions.com/review/Lisa_Davis_The_Sins_of_Brother_Curtis_epi/content_574594846340

just bought it for my kindle

makes me ASHAMED to live in same area AS THE CHURCH AND this PERVERT.

(what were the dates of this story?)

sick sick SICK that ppl defend it, 'eh?

Brother Curtis died in 1995 at the age of 92. His body was later sent to Michigan, where it is now in an unmarked grave that no one ever visits.

He was molesting boys for decades. The time period Davis wrote about for this book ranged from the 1970s until the early 90s. The church was sued by Jeremiah Scott in 1997.

What's sad is that Curtis was ex'd three times in three locations. Two out of the three times, he was ex'd for "homosexual behavior"... even though what he was really doing was molesting boys. The church did nothing about it and continued to allow him to have access to young people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2011 04:42PM by knotheadusc.

I personally know of three cases where the church has done a slam dunk job of covering up for a pervert, and re-victimized the victims. They are experts at it. They have a full time team that does nothing but sweep this stuff under the rug. That rug is pretty damn lumpy.

I bet they buried this guy in his temple clothes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2011 05:09PM by mia.

I find it shocking that anyone in the LDS faith would cover up pedophelia...Oh, wait...

Oddly enough, this guy was in his late 80s when he molested Jeremiah Scott. He was a eunuch, owing to having had prostate cancer, and had three penile implants. Davis makes an interesting point about how people who advocate that molesters should be castrated wouldn't be able to explain why Brother Curtis still had such a strong sex drive at an advanced age and without his testicles.

Larry Flint's daughter also claims he molested her when she was little despite being paralyzed from the waist down in wheel chair. I think these kinds of perversions are obsessions that are primarily mental/psychological.

Very true. I cared for a quadriplegic in the hospital who had three kids.

I agree that a lot of perversion is in the mind. It was just interesting to read about how this guy had gotten his prostate and testicles removed and had three 1970s era penile implants because the surgeries had left him impotent. Neither his age nor his lessened testosterone levels took away that compulsion to molest young males.

Jeremiah Scott was victimized because some bishop had convinced Scott's mother that Frank Curtis was just a lonely old man who needed a place to live. The bishop convinced Mrs. Scott that letting him move in with the family would be a good deed, even though the church had it on record that he had molested boys. Jeremiah Scott sued the church for that and came away with a $300,000 settlement-- less after all the legal bills were paid. And the lawyers managed to force the church to reveal their disciplinary records. They didn't get what they really wanted, though, which was to force the church to face a jury and reveal more of their records. They also didn't get the publicity they wanted.

Incidentally, there was a motion to sue the church in Utah, but Kosnoff and his partners could not find any Utah lawyers brave enough to take the case and serve as local counsel. Utah lawyers were afraid going against the church would ruin their careers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2011 09:11AM by knotheadusc.

Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna order this from Amazon next time.

By the way, I posted a link to this book on my Facebook page and a TBM came on complaining what a pity it is that the writings of this "unstable woman" make the church look bad. She then returned and made another comment on how the church is really family-oriented and nothing cult-like or secret goes on in it.

I welcomed her to my page and asked her whether she had read the book and/or knows the author.

Probably neither. Just a knee-jerk reaction inspired by cognitive dissonance. Interestingly, one of the reviews on Amazon said this book "Will make some readers defensive and uncomfortable".

Apparently, you don't even have to read the book for that to happen...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2011 09:12AM by rt.

one of the reviews on Amazon said this book "Will
> make some readers defensive and uncomfortable".
>
> Apparently, you don't even have to read the book
> for that to happen...


I'm the one who wrote that for my Epinions review. I made that comment because one Amazon reviewer identified herself as a TBM and felt the book misrepresented what the LDS church is all about. In other words, though she admitted it was a well-written and well-researched book based on actual facts, reading it made her feel uncomfortable and she wouldn't want to encourage others to read it because it might give them the "wrong idea" about her church. I have reviewed many books on Epinions that many TBMs would consider "anti-Mormon". On more than a few of the ones I've recommended, I've gotten comments from TBMs telling me they would have hoped I wouldn't recommend books that give investigators the "wrong idea".

I'm sure that a lot of people who are very happy in the church would prefer not to think about child molesters committing crimes on church business. It's kind of akin to not wanting to hear a diagnosis of a chronic disease. They'd rather believe they are immune.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2011 09:27AM by knotheadusc.

A friend of mine on Epinions who had been chatting with sister mishies commented on my review of The Sins of Brother Curtis. She also read The Mormon Murders, another book Mormons would prefer people didn't read. I reviewed the Mormon Murders several years ago, so she left me a very interesting comment. Incidentally, when I posted that review in 2006, a TBM mildly chastised me for recommending that people interested in Mormonism read it. TBMs can't stand anything that casts their church in a bad light.

http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Mormon_Murders_no_author_listed/content_220079558276



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2011 09:19PM by knotheadusc.

I once gave a relief society lesson with the topic of sex abuse.
The RS president had me released because I didn't make it a spiritual experience for her. I told the story of the mildest in house sex assault story I know. I could have made her hyperventilate if I told her all the mo sex abuse victims stories that I know.

The truth will set you free.

"A wrong once Denied is Twice Committed" -french proverb.

I don't have the book handy so can't check, but for instance, she calls Family Home Evening "Monday Home Night," or something like that. There are several other errors of that sort, fairly minor, but they're exactly the kind of thing that a Mormon would triumphantly point to as evidence of Davis's unreliability and give as a reason to dismiss her book.

Yeah, I think I remember Davis describing Family Home Evening, but not really calling it that. She also writes at the beginning of her book that she's not now and has never been LDS, which I would think is another reason a TBM would dismiss her book.

I have an online message board acquaintance who is TBM and she gets her hackles up anytime I have anything to say about Mormonism, good or bad. She thinks the only sources I have concerning the church come from my husband, people on RfM (whom she claims all have an ax to grind), and anti-Mormon books.

Seems like many Mormons don't think anyone can understand them except people who are in the church... Now that I think about it, that's also a sign of narcissistic thinking. Narcissists also believe that they are so special that no ordinary person can understand them. I wonder how many other characteristics of narcissism the Mormon religion has...

Back in the age of psychological brutality in the institutions, between lobotomies and shock treatments, sex offenders were castrated. They soon stopped that practice, because IT DID NO GOOD! Especially with pedophiles, it has nothing to do with sex. My pedophile brother died of prostrate cancer, and up to 4 days before his death, he was talking about his fantasies about little girls. I would suppose that pedophiles are all sociopaths, as well. Our TBM parents denied that anything was wrong with my brother, because he tested well in IQ tests, was in touch with reality, and had a very good memory. They didn't seem to care that he was abusing me almost daily. My brother played on their pity, as sociopaths do, and convinced them that I was the one who was lying (an infant, a toddler, can barely talk, let alone lie). Pedophiles are masters at seduction. Yeah, they can seduce bishops and primary presidents very well. We had a known pedophile in our ward, that kept getting taken out of the primary, then put in again with each new leadership change. we "child advocates" have moved out of or left the ward, and the pedophile is still teaching primary.

NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILD ALONE WITH AN ADULT YOU don't know well-- or group of adults. Except in a school situation, separating children from adults is a RED FLAG. Those adults might want to brainwash or abuse your children. Even some soccer coaches treat little children like a drill sergeant treats his recruits. And that is the mild stuff!