The topic of reporting abuse within religious organizations has become more widely talked about in the last few years as churches deal with a growing sexual abuse scandal. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, created an abuse reporting system more than two decades ago that centered around a 24-hour helpline, but former church members say this system was used to silence abuse rather than to expose it.

Some survivors say that their reports were ignored, or even that they were told they would be looked into but were then swept aside, according to a report by VICE News.

Like many other religious institutions, the Mormon church has a long history of abuse allegations. The Mormon church abuse hotline was started in 1995 and was praised by those who believed it was primarily there as a way of offering help and services to survivors who otherwise may not have had such access, but some victims’ advocates had reservations.

“Far be it from me to question their motives,” Marion Smith, a retired sex abuse counselor and founder of the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center, told Deseret News back in 1995, when the hotline was first introduced. “But it concerns me that they feel it necessary to run it through their team instead of saying that any abuse has to be reported to police, which is the protocol anyway.”

“It’s great that they’re responding to the need, and if people feel more comfortable going through that line,” Smith added.

In the more than two decades since the institution of the sexual abuse hotline, the Mormon church has insisted that it has been intended solely to advise its leaders about complying with the local abuse reporting laws.

However, an investigation by VICE News found court testimony and other documents suggesting that the helpline may serve a different purpose — shielding the Mormon church from potential litigation.

VICE News asked Eric Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Mormon Church, for information on the number of abuse-related calls made to its helpline or the percentage of those calls that actually made it to authorities. Hawkins responded: “The Church does not share information about the helpline,” but declined to specify the reasoning.

The refusal to disclose the helpline’s data is a clear concern, but the issue goes deeper, to the core of the helpline system, VICE reports. Rather than calls to the helpline being transferred to authorities, they are instead funneled into a law firm tied to the Mormon church. The law firm in charge of creating the reporting system in 1995 is now the law firm used by the Mormon church to defend it in abuse-related lawsuits, according to VICE.

While the law firm, Kirton McConkie, is separate from the church, it was founded by members of the Mormon church and is located in Salt Lake City, just a few blocks away from the Mormon Tabernacle.

The firm has served as the church’s “sword and shield in lawsuits, its policy adviser, and its legislative advocate,” VICE notes.

The Mormon church is far from the first religious institution to face allegations of abuse. The Catholic Church has faced allegations of child sexual abuse for decades. They have published the number of abuse-related reports Catholic bishops make to authorities since the early 2000s, and many Catholic dioceses have been naming priests credibly accused of abuse in the last couple of years, particularly since the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury investigation.

Since 2002, bishops in the Catholic Church have been instructed to contact the police about suspected abuse before reaching out to church lawyers.

But the Mormon church’s hotline encourages reporting to the church before contacting the police or other help outside the church itself.

“If you are just looking at it from the outside, you might say to yourself, ‘Are they trying to find a way not to report [incidents]’?” Kathleen McChesney, a former FBI official who consulted with the Catholic Church on its updated reporting policies, told VICE News.

Filing a Mormon Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

A growing number of people are coming forward with allegations of abuse and assault within a number of religious organizations, including the Mormon church. If you or someone you love has suffered from sexual abuse at the hands of someone within the Mormon church, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Some states have recently made changes to their sexual abuse laws to allow survivors more time to come forward.

Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by abuse, but it can at least help to hold those responsible, including organizations that ignored, covered up, or failed to prevent the abuse accountable for their actions and inactions.

Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.