High profile Church Member guilty of child sexual assaults

[no1saint]

Are there any stats for child sex offences committed by leaders in the Church?

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mormon ... bb54e5dd53

[Brent]

The Church potentially has a crisis the size of the Vatican's. The simple secrecy of the interview process and slavish cult of personality that ALL leaders at ALL levels receive makes abuse almost...well...easy. The opportunity for abuse of power is striking. Think about it: what's the real difference between Joseph corning a woman and saying "God wants you to want me" and a YM or YW leader sitting in a car in a parking lot after Mutual saying, "I know this may be uncomfortable but..."

The flip side is how do you tell authority that authority has abused you? The bias is that leaders have discernment and if they don't discern something is wrong how could it be?

[Hagoth]

The article says that this guy abused the boys in his office of High Priest, as if that is something like a Catholic priest or bishop. Does someone know what his actual calling was and if this stuff was done in the performance of that calling (e.g. scout leader or priesthood advisor) or is he just a pedophile who also happens to have been ordained a high priest? Most people reading the article would have no idea that, although it sounds very lofty, a high priest is just a dude who got bumped up to the next quorum because he was getting too old for the Elders Quorum. Kind of like when it's pointed out that some reprehensible act was done by a Mormon Home Teacher.

[Give It Time]

The article says that this guy abused the boys in his office of High Priest, as if that is something like a Catholic priest or bishop. Does someone know what his actual calling was and if this stuff was done in the performance of that calling (e.g. scout leader or priesthood advisor) or is he just a pedophile who also happens to have been ordained a high priest? Most people reading the article would have no idea that, although it sounds very lofty, a high priest is just a dude who got bumped up to the next quorum because he was getting too old for the Elders Quorum. Kind of like when it's pointed out that some reprehensible act was done by a Mormon Home Teacher.

Yeah, reporters don't understand our system and make all these offenders sound like they're higher in the food chain than they are.

I thought it interesting, one boy apparently had a father who was a batterer and used that to keep the boy silent.

[Red Ryder]

In an act of vile depravity, he forced two teenage boys to strip naked and shoot each other, and himself, in the testicles with an air rifle that fired plastic pellets.

What the fuuuuu????

[Corsair]

In an act of vile depravity, he forced two teenage boys to strip naked and shoot each other, and himself, in the testicles with an air rifle that fired plastic pellets.

What the fuuuuu????

I hear stories like these and have to concede my fairly tame carnal desires in comparison. If the orthodox narrative of the LDS church was 100% true, I can only imagine that God will roll his eyes and wave me through the judgement bar with my lame sins. I am straining to understand how this situation could have somehow come together. Every male on this forum cringed with the sympathetic pain of this atrociously humor infused situation.

I have served on county grand juries examining probably cause for felony indictments. At a certain point jury members will want to politely ask the prosecutor to simply stop piling on felony charges because at some early point the jury will have heard quite enough, thank you.

[moksha]

In an act of vile depravity, he forced two teenage boys to strip naked and shoot each other, and himself, in the testicles with an air rifle that fired plastic pellets.

This would be hard to classify since it crosses several groups of perversions. Had this occurred in Utah, the State Legislature would want to add this action to the Utah penal code but would be stopped by gun advocates within the Church. The Legislative Analysts Office would also point out to the legislators that it is part of the unwritten rules to not use the word penal in mixed company.

Do Australian newspapers routinely use terms like "vile depravity" in its reporting?

[no1saint]

In an act of vile depravity, he forced two teenage boys to strip naked and shoot each other, and himself, in the testicles with an air rifle that fired plastic pellets.

This would be hard to classify since it crosses several groups of perversions. Had this occurred in Utah, the State Legislature would want to add this action to the Utah penal code but would be stopped by gun advocates within the Church. The Legislative Analysts Office would also point out to the legislators that it is part of the unwritten rules to not use the word penal in mixed company.

Do Australian newspapers routinely use terms like "vile depravity" in its reporting?

Our newspapers are fairly explicit and sensationalist when it comes to stuff like this. Gun control is a non issue, since most Australians bar the rural population who need them (and have them) for farming don't care. We dealt with and moved on from that a long time ago.

Not too sure of his calling in the Church, because the media is unfamiliar with the Church and it's machinations, it's unsure how to report on it properly. I doubt the Church media spokesperson would be providing quotes on this case so readily either. I am not even sure he had a calling that dealt with youth at all. You could say it's sloppy journalism, and the Herald Sun is a tabloid, but without reference points it would be difficult to report effectively on his role and influence in the Church. In saying that, as director of a high profile PR movie for the Church, he would of have been afforded a degree of esteem within the Church community as a result of his role in the movie rather than within the formal Church structure. I will try and get some info from my brother who lives in the region of Victoria.

[Just This Guy]

A DEPRAVED movie director who was a high priest in the Mormon church when he molested young boys has pleaded guilty to a series of child sexual assaults.

Damn! Are all Aussie newspapers this blunt, or is this paper one that tends to embellish?

[Hagoth]

The Legislative Analysts Office would also point out to the legislators that it is part of the unwritten rules to not use the word penal in mixed company.

he he he he he he

[no1saint]

A DEPRAVED movie director who was a high priest in the Mormon church when he molested young boys has pleaded guilty to a series of child sexual assaults.

Damn! Are all Aussie newspapers this blunt, or is this paper one that tends to embellish?

I am finding it amusing that you are all thinking that this is blunt. I guess I am used to it, so I think the answer to your question is a yes, they are this blunt and worse. It is a tabloid newspaper, but to be honest that could be used to describe all modern media now.

[moksha]

I am finding it amusing that you are all thinking that this is blunt. I guess I am used to it, so I think the answer to your question is a yes, they are this blunt and worse. It is a tabloid newspaper, but to be honest that could be used to describe all modern media now.

That's nothing, L’Osservatore Romano would probably propose the creation of the 10th Circle of Hell for those who mix their fetishism with air rifles.

[Just This Guy]

A DEPRAVED movie director who was a high priest in the Mormon church when he molested young boys has pleaded guilty to a series of child sexual assaults.

Damn! Are all Aussie newspapers this blunt, or is this paper one that tends to embellish?

I am finding it amusing that you are all thinking that this is blunt. I guess I am used to it, so I think the answer to your question is a yes, they are this blunt and worse. It is a tabloid newspaper, but to be honest that could be used to describe all modern media now.

It is an interesting cultural difference. In the US, mainstream news outlets tends to be as neutral as possible in their wording. I don't know how much is general journalistic style and industry standard and how much is tying to protect themselves to possible lawsuits if they happen to be wrong on something. The papers that tend to be more extreme are the tabloids where their truthfulness are questionable from the start.

Different country, different standards of what is considered acceptable.